Category Archives: Church

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Local Church Debuts Full-Length Feature Film This Weekend!

 

Hello World,

Inspired by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. (the church that produced such films as “Facing The Giants,” “Fireproof” and “Courageous”), The Church at Chapelhill in Douglasville, Ga. is releasing a Christmas film “Surrendered – The Story of Jay Harding” this weekend. The film is about family man Jay Harding (played by David McIntyre) who faces the biggest decision of his life at Christmas time, after losing almost everything he cherished in his life. The movie will be shown on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 18 at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the church, 5357 Chapel Hill Rd, Douglasville 30135. And it is free to see the movie!

I’m excited about this movie for a couple of reasons. I love it when churches go big and innovative!  Obviously, this movie was a labor of love and faith. During a week this past August, the film was written by Brett Divine who also produced, directed and edited the feature. A cast and crew was assembled through volunteers in the church and production began on September 23, 2011.The budget for the film was $15,000 which allowed the crew to purchase a camera, lenses and a few other necessities. All of the locations and props were donated by members of the church. The film was shot in the West Atlanta area in September & October 2011, and was completed by members of the church. All of the cast and crew were volunteers.

AND I’m also excited because my Soror Kim Howard, who plays Jay Harding’s wife Kim Harding in the movie, is starring in the film! I cannot wait to see it this weekend, and I hope you take some time out of your Christmas shopping to see this film too! Check back on my blog on Wednesday, Dec. 21 for my review of the film. And if you cannot make it, you can still pre-order the DVD on the website –www.surrenderedthemovie.com. Make sure you check out the trailer above.

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Not Every Black Person Believes in God…

Hello World,

It’s funny (funny peculiar, not funny haha) that Christ often gets lost in the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas, but it’s true…And it’s also true that black people are known in this country for having an unshakeable belief in God that brought us through slavery and other historical hardships and continues to sustain us today…But more and more black people are admitting that they frankly do not believe in Jesus Christ or God, which is especially poignant at this time of the year…

Tommie Shelby

Tommie Shelby, professor of African and African-American studies and of philosophy at Harvard University, recently shared why he is a black atheist on theroot.com in his essay “I Didn’t Lose Faith. I Just Don’t Have It.”

Below are a few excerpts from his essay…

And so one day, after much study, I joined a church and was baptized. Soon I was earnestly sharing the gospel with family and friends. I lived at home during the summer after my freshman year, and my mother and I studied together. As a result, her faith was renewed. Indeed, she held tightly to her faith until the day she died.

I can’t say the same for myself. By the time I graduated, I no longer believed in God. I didn’t get to this place easily. It was a painful and trying process that involved hours of study, reflection, self-examination, fasting and prayer.

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I worried that my belief in God was ultimately rooted in things like fear of death, desire for community or longing for the loving father figure I didn’t have. Was my attraction to Christian doctrines driven by the fact that I was a lonely, alienated, scared kid looking for something firm to hold on to? After all, faith made me feel powerful and protected.

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I’m an intellectual, by natural disposition and vocation. I have chosen to live a life of the mind in a community of scholars where my nonbelief is unremarkable. My path is not for everyone. And I don’t expect most black folk to leave the Lord. What I would like to see, though, is greater respect for and understanding toward the nonbelievers among us. If my mother could muster it, surely we all can.

Another black atheist, Jamila Bey,  shares how she celebrates the Christmas holidays without Christ in her essay “Heathen Holidays: An Atheist Celebrates”also on the root.com.

Jamila Bey

So what do I think of the views of the Shelby and Bey as an unabashed believer in Jesus Christ? Well, first of all,  I very much value the freedoms on which this country was based – one of which is the freedom of religion….We are free to believe in whatever God we choose to believe in, and we are also free to choose to not believe in any God at all…So I say – have at it Shelby and Bey…

But I will also say this…the freedoms (religious and otherwise) that Shelby and Bey enjoy today in this country are the result of courageous black Christians down through the years that sacrified – many with their lives – so that we can be as free as we want to be today…it is a real luxury for Shelby and Bey to say they don’t believe in Jesus Christ in today’s times…

Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Fannie Lou Hamer, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are just few black people whose lives and Christian faith enabled us to enjoy the freedoms we so cavalierly enjoy today…I’m not sure that Shelby and Bey would be of the same opinion years ago…not hatin’ just sayin’…

What say you?

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

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Have A Little Faith: A New Sunday Night TV Movie!!!


 

Hello World,

I hope you and yours had a Happy Thanksgiving! It’s been great to have a few days off from work to be thankful with family, friends and loved ones. And I intend to savor today as it’s the last day before the rat race begins anew! Tonight, I plan to put aside my guilty pleasure of watching “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” to watch Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got To Do With It, The Matrix, Boyz n the Hood, Akilah and the Bee),  in “Have a Little Faith.” The Hallmark Channel Hall of Fame movie airs tonight on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.

Based on the latest best-selling book by New York Times Best-Selling author Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven), the movie features Fisburne as Henry Covington,  a former drug addict who becomes a preacher to the homeless in Detroit. The movie also features Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and The Frog, Dreamgirls & HBO’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency), Mykelti Williamson (Bubba in Forrest Gump) and Martin Landau!

Let’s watch this movie to demonstrate that television movies with faith-themed messages can have huge ratings! Check out the trailer above…

Any thoughts?