Posted on Wednesday, May 1, 2019

The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Magazine Articles for Black Christian Women in April 2019

Hello World,

Happy May! It’s getting closer and closer to my favorite season of the year: summer!!! I know I’ve been ghost for a little bit. Chalk it up to family obligations. But I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine articles for black Christian women! So below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for April ( but you don’t have be a black Christian woman to to check them out As usual, let me know if you like my list! Enjoy and share!

1. “An Afro Fit For A Crown: Miss Teen USA 2019 Rocks Her Natural Coils While Winning The National Title” by Vinciane Ngomsi

Excerpt: Kaliegh Garris, an 18-year-old woman from Connecticut, was crowned Miss Teen USA on Sunday, beating runner-up Miss North Dakota Kaitlyn Vogel. What made the victory even sweeter was that the teen sported her natural curls as she took home her crown. See more at: blavity.com.

Excerpt: Several weeks ago, theologian Ekemini Uwan was interviewed on stage at the Sparrow Conference for Women. But when Uwan, a Nigerian American who frequently speaks out against racism and white supremacy, began doing so at the conference, people in the audience began walking out, according to a report from The Witness. Uwan later tweeted that she had to hire an attorney to force the conference to send her photos and video of her interview. YouTube also removed a video of her remarks at the request of Sparrow, and the conference’s social media did not include her images or quotes, in contrast to those of other speakers. See more at: christianitytoday.com.

3. “Black women cracking ‘stained-glass ceilings’ with Jesus’ 7 last words” by Adelle M. Banks

Excerpt: In a growing tradition, at least a dozen churches across the country are hosting Good Friday services this year that feature seven African American female preachers, expounding in seven short sermons on the last seven phrases uttered by Jesus before his crucifixion. “It’s a big deal because historically black women have been underrepresented,” said Hamilton, associate pastor of innovation and engagement at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Pleasantville. See more at: religionnews.com.

4. “Allen Temple Baptist Church Welcomes 1st Woman Pastor in History in Its Centennial Year” by Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr.

Excerpt: With the confirmation of the Reverend Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson as Senior Pastor, both my son and I have retired and welcome her leadership from Allen Temple’s pulpit. A growing grass-roots opinion in the membership led by strong women and non-patriarchal men who were concerned that Jesus affirmed the equality of the sexes realized that the search community should give first consideration to their first woman assistant pastor. Dr. Thompson was already in great demand nationally as a preacher in multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-cultural settings and had won the hearts of her audiences with her charismatic preaching style that reached the Ph.D.’s and the “no D’s.” See more at: postnewsgroup.com.

5. “See The Book Cover Of ‘Parker Looks Up’ That Captures One Little Girl’s Viral Moment With Michelle Obama” by Sydney Scott

Excerpt: Parker Curry first captured America’s attention when she stood mesmerized in front of Amy Sherald’s astonishing portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama. Now, Parker and her mom are telling her story with their new children’s book, Parker Looks Up. See more at essence.com.

6. “Mellody Hobson, George Lucas seeking to obtain control of historic EBONY and JET archives” by Megan Sims

Excerpt: Following Johnson Publishing Company’s recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, the fate of thousands of original historical pictures and recordings are left threatened, but that could change with efforts from a powerhouse couple in finance and film. Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson and her husband, Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas, are seeking control of the EBONY and JET archives, The Wall Street Journalreports. The extensive collection contains images and recordings chronicling more than 70 years of Black life and culture. Original images of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and Muhammad Ali are among the collection. See more at: thegrio.com.

7. “‘Jesus chose me for you’ | Educators at same school are perfect match for kidney donation” by Jon Shirek

Excerpt: Dr. NaKisha Wynn, a veteran teacher at Woodland Elementary, has been on kidney dialysis since February 2018. Wynn could not have imagined that her match would soon find her – right there at the school. See more at: 11alive.com.

8. “The Rockettes race to reverse long history of excluding black women” by Susan Edelman

Excerpt: “There is an awareness that there needs to be representation,” said Danelle Morgan, 33, who is black. A 13-year Rockette veteran, she is a leader of the diversity drive. “We want the line to be a reflection of all different faces and backgrounds.” For the first time in 10 years, the Rockettes will hold “open call” auditions outside NYC, with Chicago and Atlanta tryouts scheduled in May. See more at: nypost.com.

9. “Stacey Abrams is said to rule out bid for Senate in 2020” by Greg Bluestein

Excerpt: The decision not to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue follows months of speculation about the Democrat’s next political step after her narrow loss in last year’s race for governor. See more at ajc.com.

10. “California Senate passes new bill banning racial discrimination against employees with natural hairstyles” by Jacqueline Laurean Yates

Excerpt: California has joined other states in ending racial discrimination against people with natural hairstyles such as braids, twists, and Afros. On Monday, the Senate passed the CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) which will ban discrimination against employees based off their hairstyle. The bill was initially passed by Los Angeles Senator Holly J. Mitchell, who recently said in a speech, “A google image search for ‘unprofessional hairstyles’ yielded only pictures of Black women with their natural hair or wearing natural braids or twists.” See more at: abcnews.go.com.

If you know of any black Christian women bloggers and or writers, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com as I’m always interested in expanding my community of black Christian women blogs and websites. As I noted before, while this is a roundup of interesting blog posts and or magazine and newspaper articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces .

Posted on Sunday, April 7, 2019

Kanye West & Montell Jordan to lead Easter Sunday Services…

Hello World,

Two weeks from today, Christians all over the world will be celebrating the triumphant resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday! And even those Christians who may not make every single Sunday service will find themselves gathering among the saints on that special day! And there are two more options to choose from as of now!

I’ve been hearing about Kanye West’s Sunday service and recently the Kardashian sisters – Kim, Khloé & Kourtney – described the Sunday Service, which is essentially a gospel concert for celebrities from what I can tell, in their recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel. This is what the sisters said about it:

“A healing experience,” said Kim.

“We have so many friends that maybe feel a little too judgmental when they go to church or something like that, but when they come here, they feel so free and safe is what everybody says,” Khoe said.

“It’s Christian,” said Kourtney.

And below is a video of one of Kanye’s Sunday Services.

And now Kanye will be taking his Sunday Service to Coachella on Easter Sunday, April 21! It will happen at sunrise! I’ve always felt that Kanye had a relationship with God from the time he made “Jesus Walks” and maybe as his celebrity status increased, he somehow lost that connection. But God uses everything to draw us back to Him because nothing separates from the love of God even when we walk away. Although it’s not a traditional church service, they can still praise and worship God, and God will honor their praise and worship by showing up! And many black men are burned out on traditional services. That’s the reason that Jomo Johnson founded Church for Black Men through which he encourages people to have church services at home which is what Kanye West is doing! So good for him…

But Kanye West is not the only celebrity who realizes we all need Jesus and will honor him on Easter Sunday. On the East Coast, here in the A, Montell Jordan will deliver a sermon on Easter Sunday outside on top of Stone Mountain, the AJC is reporting. Montell used to be an R&B singer and now he is executive pastor at Victory World Church in Norcross, Georgia.

It’s funny how God works because Montell Jordan once told TMZ that Kanye needs to reconnect with God in his life after Kanye had a mental breakdown back in 2016…

Do you think that Kanye somehow saw this interview and heeded Montell’s advice? Maybe so…

Wherever you find yourself two weeks from today, whether in a home service or a traditional service or on top of a mountain, I hope you will praise God for the resurrection of His son Jesus!

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, April 1, 2018

Seven Scriptures that Emphasize the Easter Message Outside of the Easter Story!

Hello World!

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 makesHis 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…