Category Archives: Church

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TAKE THE LID OFF: Trust God, Release the Pressure, and Find the Life He Wants for You – NEW BOOK ALERT!!!

Hello World,

When the pressure of life seems to boil over – and it does for everyone – Pastor and GRAMMY-winning musician Smokie Norful has one piece of advice: take the lid off. This concept was inspired by watching his grandmother make her signature dish of sweet rice. When the heat got too high, the pot began hissing and boiling over, like it was about to explode and create panic. His grandmother would remind him the only way to avoid an eruption is to remove the lid. Like that pot of rice, the only way to avoid an emotional overload is to take our own lids off — that is, to stop being trapped inside ourselves and instead look to God and his grace to show us the strategy that makes us all he intends us to be, and serve him in the way he has called us to.

This is the premise behind Norful’s new book Take the Lid Off: Trust God, Release the Pressure, and Find the Life He Wants for You (Thomas Nelson), which is available as of TODAY. In Take the Lid Off, Norful — who is the founder and pastor of Victory Cathedral Worship Center, a congregation of 5,000 members with three campuses in the Chicagoland area — outlines four steps to take to relieving the pressure and drawing closer to God in the process:

1. Look Inward, experiencing the cleansing of forgiveness and the power of God.

2. Look Outward, seeking for others to experience the joy of living for God and have the best God has to offer.

3. Look Upward and marvel at God’s love and strength to accomplish his purposes.

4. Move Onward, devising a strategy to accomplish all God has put in our hearts to do.

Norful — through detailed explanations and relatable examples — guides readers in understanding that, when you focus on these four steps, the pressure of life goes down, you gain peace and perception, and things work out much better in the end. By working to “take the lid off,” readers can become the people they were created to be.

Interesting Biographical Highlights From Take the Lid Off :

*Norful is a PK (preacher’s kid).

*Prior to his music career, he worked as junior high school teacher in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where his father was the president of the local school board.

*Although Norful was a successful gospel artist, he was miserable at one point and had even stopped going to church.

*Fellow gospel artist Donnie McClurkin was instrumental in convincing Norful to become a pastor.

*Some people who supported Norful in his music career weren’t as supportive when he became a pastor.

*Norful’s GRAMMY Awards are displayed behind his sons’ trophies for karate, T-ball and soccer.

*When Norful became a pastor, he gave up 80 percent of his income for several years.

Check out the Take the Lid Off trailer below:

To underscore the message of Take the Lid Off Norful is partnering with his long-time label home, Motown Gospel, to release a digital-only album titled Nothing Is Impossible. The 12-track project, available Sept. 9, 2017, features some of Norful’s most beloved songs of encouragement and inspiration, including “Still Say Thank You,” “No One Else” and “Run Til I Finish.”

About the Author:

SMOKIE NORFUL is founder and senior pastor of Victory Cathedral Worship Center, a congregation on three campuses in Bolingbrook and Chicago, Illinois. A multiple Grammy-winning artist who has sold more than three million albums worldwide, he has also received Stellar awards; Dove awards; an NAACP Image Award nomination; a Soul Train Award nomination; two nominations for the BET Award for gospel music; two RIAA certified Gold-selling compact discs; and countless other accolades. A graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, Norful also served on the board of regents for Trinity International University. He lives with his wife and family in the Chicago area. 

Learn more about Norful at SmokieNorful.com, and connect with him

on Facebook and Twitter.

Take the Lid Off is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com, 

and other major bookstores nationwide and online.

Any thoughts?

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Do You Still Trust Pastor Joel Osteen After His Hurricane Harvey Response?

Hello World,

As I watched the daily coverage of Hurricane Harvey over the past seven days, I’ve marveled over the fact that the course of one’s life can change as easily as a watercourse flows. Can you imagine that one day you’re immersed in the regular monotony of life and the next day all that you know is immersed under rainwater that refuses to recede. I’ve been praying for those affected by Hurricane Harvey as they go about recovering from the ravages of this natural disaster.

Even as Hurricane Harvey developed day by day, stories of how those in its path responded developed day by day alongside it. One of those stories you’ve probably heard of by now is how Senior Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas responded. Osteen was dragged on Twitter last week when he allegedly tweeted out inspirational messages regarding Hurricane Harvey but did not open the doors of his 17,000-seat megachurch to Hurricane Harvey evacuees until he was shamed into doing so. It has been a point of contention whether the church had also been affected by the hurricane and thereby not accessible or whether that was not the case at all. A flurry of news coverage was created by this “Twitter storm” which resulted in Osteen granting various news outlets interviews to explain “what had happened was” and for damage control.

Do I believe that Pastor Osteen responded with too little too late and was shamed into opening the doors of this church? Hmmm…I’ve had to think about my own humble and small church where I’ve attended since I was six years old in forming my opinion. If Hurricane Harvey would have hit Atlanta, would my church be prepared to open its doors to evacuees? I don’t know that we would have immediately because a typical church isn’t prepared to assist in that way. When we’ve had snow storms for example in the A, church shuts down and everyone is encouraged to remain in their homes until the roads are clear and conditions are safe to gather together again. So I think it’s unfair to rush to judgment when most organizations aren’t prepared to service people in natural disasters.

That being said, if the natural disaster, storm, etc. continues, a place of ministry should develop a means to minister to its congregants and the wider community if they have resources available. A small church often does not the resources available to minister to people in the time of a natural disaster or otherwise that a large church like that of Lakewood Church, for example, has its disposal. It’s likely that as Hurricane Harvey continued, the staff at Lakewood headed by Osteen would have implemented a plan to minister to its congregants and the community even without the Twitter storm. I’m sure that many churches throughout Houston have been considering their course of action as well.

And that brings me to another point. Pastor Osteen is not the only pastor in Houston and you would think that based on the news coverage. Is he the only pastor that who did not allegedly immediately implement a plan to open the doors of the church to evacuees? Probably not. But since he is well known, he was an obvious target of scrutiny. And I’m pretty sure the people who were already not fond of his ministry which has been referred to as “prosperity gospel” were some of the loudest people criticizing him. And on the other hand, those who were proponents of his ministry before Hurricane Harvey have probably not been persuaded to not support him based on his Hurricane Harvey response.

Finally, for all of those who have worked themselves into a lather regarding Pastor Joel Osteen, my question to them is: What are you doing to minister to those affected by Hurricane Harvey? If the answer is not much or nothing, maybe all of that energy would be better directed inward or upward. I don’t know why God allows storms, literal and otherwise, in the lives of people but there are always lessons to be learned. Maybe one of the lessons from this storm is that we need each other more than we thought we did…

That’s all I got.

Any thoughts?

 

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Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 12: House Rules…

Hello World,

Basie Skanks brought in this eventful episode with a sermon that has got everyone in Memphis talking about it…And you will understand it by and by if you keep reading my “Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 12.”

House of Cards…

While he may no longer be playing poker (for the moment), Basie is still using his pulpit to run game. In his explosive sermon calling out pastors who refuse to address homosexuality and homophobia, Basie says, “It’s not enough to say God is love. It’s time to say God loves gays.” While he may wholeheartedly believe his message, I’m sure we all know by now that Basie has an ulterior motive for everything. Meanwhile, Darius the journalist and Gigi’s boyfriend, is steady scribbling notes in the sanctuary as Basie “spits game.”

At the breakfast table, the Greenleafs dissect Basie’s words via the newspaper article that Darius has written about Basie and the topic of homosexuality and homophobia in the black church. Bishop believes that this article is directed to addressing the city’s bathroom bill. Grace makes sure to tell her parents that she only agrees with Basie on “one issue.” However, it does trouble her that Calvary was mentioned in the article but she knew nothing about the piece beforehand. Lady Mae says, “He’s tugging at the threads that hold this family together” in reference to Basie. Bishop says, “It’s time for me and Jesus to pay a call on Basie Skanks.”

Over at the parsonage, which seems to be held together by threads as well, Kerissa complains about the home’s electrical wiring. “This whole house needs to be rewired.” Jacob tells her he cannot afford to pay for that at the moment and asks her to stop getting so upset about it. She responds with, “I will be done when this house stops twitching like a person possessed.” She ends her tirade with, “Get a job.” She further explains that all pastors with small churches have an additional job. My father has been the pastor of a small church for most of my life and didn’t have a second job most of the time (Sometimes, he worked as a college professor). But on the other hand, my childhood home wasn’t prone to random explosions either. LOL.

Make Yours a Happy Home…

Since Kevin is still MIA, Grace has been named the new director of outreach at Calvary. Grace’s secretary Darlene asks Grace if she will still continue to preach since she has a new position. (When was the last time she preached?) Grace tells her she doesn’t know and says it may be just as well since she doesn’t exactly fit the preacher prototype. Wisely, Darlene says, “Some folks never fit in no matter how hard they try” and explains that may be a good thing anyway. I agree. Too many houses of God seem to have cookie-cutter people.

As he said he would, Bishop pays a visit to Basie’s house of God. He walks into Basie’s office where this big dude in a black leather jacket is telling Basie that he is owed money. Before Bishop is able to hear everything, Basie sees him and rushes the man out of his office. Bishop says,”Stay away from my family.” He specifically mentions Gigi. “I won’t part with her easily.” “You said the judgment is coming. It is. It’s coming for you,” Bishop goes on to say.

Later on, back at Calvary, Bishop boasts it about with Lady Mae. “I called the man a fool in his own church. I told the man he is flailing.” Lady Mae tells Bishop she believes there is more to the story about what went down with Basie and Jacob. They decide to visit Jacob and Kerissa in their home.

Just then, the couple is interrupted by a call from Miss Cross. Of course. Bishop is prepared to not take the call, but Lady Mae tells him to take it as she has a meeting with Jacinta Butler. Bishop asks her what she has going on with Ms. Butler. “Is there no ragged part of the world that you’re not knitting together?” Just as Lady Mae is leaving her husband’s office, Bishop says to Miss Cross. “You were just on my mind. Please call me James.” Something tells me that Miss Cross is well on her way to breaking up a happy home.

After Bishop’s conversation with Miss Cross, Grace confronts her father with news she discovered about Kevin after looking through his files. She discovered that he was attending for Fortitude for Families meetings and referred to the program as “self-flagellation.” She asks Bishop when he is going to address the issue directly in church. He tells her she needs to be patient and not press the issue. ” Only God knows when homosexuals will be as welcome as anyone else, but I’m prepared to practice patience.” Grace is not satisfied with his stance to which Bishop responds he will pray on it.

The House Always Wins…

In another part of Calvary, Charity is applying makeup when Jabari comes into her office. “I’ve never seen a face that needs less powder and paint than yours,” he says. Apparently, they are working together on a song for Nicole Mullen and he brings her some sort of device ( I don’t know what it is exactly) that she can use to make music. “So you don’t want me to come to Nashville anymore,” Charity asks Jabari. He tells her that is not the case…Hmmm….Let’s move on for now…

The eldest “Greenleaf girl” Lady Mae meets with Jacinta Butler, president of the St. Josephine Society from last week’s episode. She runs the debutante program in which Zora and Sophia are now able to participate in courtesy of Rochelle Cross. Speaking of Rochelle, Jacinta reveals that Rochelle is a “wizard with money” and handles Jacinta’s finances. (I guess that is why she was able to make such a large donation to Calvary. Also, I had once thought Rochelle was connected to Basie, but if that was true, wouldn’t Rochelle have helped out the cash-strapped Basie by now?) Lady Mae tells her that Rochelle told her what happened at her previous church, Greater Redeemer. Jacinta seems shocked that Lady Mae knows about what happened and refers to it as a “terrible situation.” “As if the man has to have no self-control.” Say what? That aine what Rochelle said happened at Greater Redeemer. But I’m not worried. Lady Mae wasn’t born yesterday and Rochelle doesn’t know who she’s messing with…but she gon learn…I will bet on Lady Mae over Rochelle any day. Y’all know the house always wins.

Speaking of she gon learn, Zora and her little boyfriend Isaiah or Gospel Chris Brown as I like to call him are up in her bedroom taking “study breaks” when her daddy discovers them. “He’s helping me with biology,” she tells her father. LOL…Sho is…Jacob kicks Isaiah out of the house before telling him he is violating house rules.

Also in violation of house rules, Rochelle is in the house of God continuing to spit game (this time in person) to Bishop. He tells her what happened with Basie. I guess telling all of this to his wife didn’t garner enough stroking of his ego. Men can be so funny this way. Always looking to have their egos stroked. “I told him the next time my name passes his lips, it should be in the context of praise.” Rochelle responds with, “This just reinforces my decision to make Calvary my church home.” Smh…

I’ll House You…

Charity asks Grace to watch Nathan for her while she is on a date with Jabari. Although Grace has a date with Darius as well, she agrees to do so and hopes Darius won’t mind watching her nephew since they will be just be at the Greenleaf estate anyway.

Bishop and Lady Mae, however, ventured from the estate and to Jacob and Kerissa’s home. While there, Bishop tells the couple that as he was building Calvary, he worked a two jobs in addition to being a pastor. He sold Bibles door to door and worked in maintenance and groundskeeping. Bishop also tries to get more information about Basie from Jacob and tells him about the man he saw in Basie’s office. He describes him as “rough-hewn” and the kind of “man that hangs around a pool hall.” “Is he doing prison ministry these days?” Jacob doesn’t reveal the full truth and instead quotes 1 John 2:5. Lady Mae calls Basie “Nebuchadnezzar.” LOL. Kerissa tries to tell Lady Mae and Bishop what is going on with electrical wiring in their home, but Jacob stops her from telling that information too.

Charity is getting nowhere fast either. At the end of her date with Jabari, he kisses her on the cheek after she smacked him on the lips last week! What’s up with that?

And Grace’s date doesn’t turn out much better. She asks him Darius did he interview Carlton for this article and why didn’t he tell her about it. She also mentions that her father wasn’t approached about the article. I agree. As a journalist, you should always strive to get both sides or all sides of every story if possible. Darius blows up and says that Grace is always finding a way to push him away. She responds with asking him why he doesn’t go to church. Before he leaves, he says, “I’ve never gotten so little from someone and stuck around.”

Later on, Charity and Grace discuss their dudes and dates. Charity says, “I don’t think he’s gay. I don’t what he is.” I don’t think Charity should be dating right now anyway. The divorce papers haven’t even cooled down yet, and the father of her child could be anywhere on God’s green earth!

Back at Jacob’s house, Kerissa pushes the electrical wiring issue with Jacob and he blows up. He tells he is finally the man that she prayed for him to be all of those years that he was creeping! (You have to wonder why she stayed with him while he was doing that.) “I have the moral authority that you prayed for me to have. Trust me and trust Him. Wait.” Alright, the man has spoken. I think I agree with him. I think…He also tells her to pay more attention to their daughter, who gets up hung up on by Isaiah later in the episode when she couldn’t take his call because of debutante duties. What a jerk!

Much later on, Darius shows back up at the Greenleaf estate to tell her why he is so salty with the church. Apparently, his wife died in a car accident and when he asked the pastor to help him understand why God would allow that happen, the pastor told him, “It’s best we don’t question God.” So, Darius is suffering from church hurt. “I was holding back and that was why.”

Likely in violation of Jacob’s house rules, Kerissa seems to be like “I’ll house you” or “I’ll show you.” She meets with Bishop and Lady Mae and tells it all – how they used their savings to pay for the Triumph land and parsonage. “We’ve got the land and the house but we should have gotten Triumph .” “That would beat that two-acre soup kitchen you’ve got right now,” Lady Mae says. Leave it Lady Mae with the one-liners! Bwwaaaa! She also tells how Basie still owes over $250,000 of the church’s money! After all of this, she asks them not to tell Jacob. They promise not to do so…

Below is a snippet from “House Rules.”

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap, Season 2 Episode 12 and my other recaps so far.
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Any thoughts?