Retrospect: My Top 10 Posts of 2020!!!

 

Hello World,

If you’re reading this, y’all we made it…well, a few hours from now, we will have!!! This morning as I was writing in my journal, I realized that God has blessed me in ways that I hadn’t even acknowledged before today. (Please forgive me Lord!) Despite the trials of this particular year, which includes family members getting sick and or hospitalized with COVID-19, I can list and have listed the ways that God has continued to prove He’s my good shepherd and your good shepherd as well! After the Altar Call, my humble corner of the world wide web, is one of God’s blessings ever since it first launched in 2008! I’m so grateful that each year, more and more of you come here for content at the cross section of faith, relationships and pop culture! Below are the top 1o posts that brought you here in 2020!

1. ‘The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel’ Executive Producers & Cast Attend Television Critics Association Panel (PHOTOS)

Excerpt: According to Deadline.com, there was some tea spilled at the TCA panel, “… one question was gotten out of the way early:  Was estranged sister Denise Clark-Bradford consulted in the making of the movie? ‘Yes, she was absolutely given the opportunity to participate in her story,’ said Executive Producer Holly Carter, who was joined on the panel by Executive Producer Queen Latifah (Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott are also EP’s) and cast members Christina Bell, Kierra Sheard, Sheléa Frazier, Raven Goodwin and Angela Birchett.” Read the rest of the article HERE.

2. Former Follower of Pinky Promise Founder Heather Lindsey Implies She’s a ‘False Prophet’ & Says She Owes Her Money!

Excerpt: And since D. Danyelle ended her blog post with mentioning money, let’s start with that in 2020. A whole four years later after what D. Danyelle wrote, Jaleceya Tate via YouTube claimed she is owed a refund for buying Heather Lindsey’s products in addition to criticizing her in much of the same way that D. Danyelle did. Jaleceya said she became a follower of Heather Lindsey in approximately 2013 because of her “cute kids, cute husband and cute testimony.” She subsequently attended a Pinky Promise conference, bought two of Heather Lindsey’s books and even attended Heather Lindsey’s cooking class.  She revealed that perusing Heather Lindsey’s perfect Instagram page over time caused her to feel her life, in comparison, was inferior. As a result, she began to not go her page as much.

3. Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Raphael Warnock & Wife To Divorce as He Runs for U.S. Senate…

Excerpt: Earlier today, I checked the analytics for my website and noticed that many of the posts I have written about the Warnocks have received traction in the last couple of days. I wrote about their their romantic engagement in “Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Proposes to Girlfriend During Watch Night Service! (VIDEO)” in January 2016,  their beautiful marriage ceremony just over a month later on Valentine’s Day in “Why Wait? Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Marries on Valentine’s Day After NYE Proposal (VIDEO)!” and even the birth of their first child in “Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor & Wife Become Parents!” later that year. I think they are a beautiful couple, and I have visited Ebenezer several times over the years. But when I Googled them today, this AJC article appeared…”Warnock, Wife Involved in Dispute” by Stephen Deere and Greg Bluestein. Rev. Warnock told the AJC that he and his wife have been separated since November and plan to divorce.

4. Greenleaf Recap Season 5 Episode 8, Series Finale: Behold…

Excerpt: Saints, unfortunately what we feared is true, Bishop has gone on to his final reward and is with the Lamb of God in that pasture in the sky. After last week’s episode, when it appeared that Bishop had a stroke, I felt like I had lost a beloved family member rather than a character on a mere television show. And even the next morning, I felt melancholy. But that is what great television or any great work of art will do: illuminate real life so much that you have no choice except to contemplate what has been presented and incorporate the message in your real life. The reality is that we all have an expiration date and hopefully we will leave this sphere as Bishop did, having poured out everything in service to God and what He has called us to do for our fellow man…

5. OWN ‘Greenleaf’ Creator Craig Wright & Executive Producer Kriss Turner Towner Share How ‘Greenleaf’ Started, Secrets from Season 5 & the Spinoff & MORE (MY INTERVIEW)

Excerpt: I must say that I’m very much disturbed by recent events in my city of metro Atlanta, but that is why quality entertainment is more important than ever. Although I’m tempted to tune into 24-hour news stations 24 hours a day, I must detach myself periodically and de-stress somehow. Along with exercise, watching my favorite television shows is one of my easiest ways to de-stress, and as most of the readers of my blog know, OWN’s Greenleaf is at the top of my list. That’s why I feel so incredibly blessed that I was able to recently interview Craig Wright, the creator of Greenleaf AND Kriss Turner Towner, executive producer of Greenleaf AND the writer behind Something New, one of my favorite films of all time (more on that later). Yes, after four seasons of recaps (that took me about three hours to write apiece), I finally have some of the answers to some of the questions that I have asked myself and you as we got to know the Greenleafs over these last four years…

6. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Jamal Bryant Takes Daughter Grace to Daddy-Daughter Dance, Some Critique Her Dress…

Excerpt: The first time I officially danced with my father was during my wedding in 2013. It was one of the most special moments in my life because the first man I had ever loved gave me away to the man I will forever love. I don’t recall any of the schools I attended when I was growing up having a Daddy-Daughter Dance, but I hear about them all of the time now. Apparently, the school where Grace Bryant attends had a Daddy-Daughter Dance on Saturday as Bravo reported that New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Jamal Bryant took his daughter Grace to one. Grace is also the daughter of Gizelle Bryant, who is on the cast of  The Real Housewives of Potomac.  Both of the Bryants, who are back together after being divorced for several years, posted about this special occasion on their Instagram pages. But Grace’s dress, which is somewhat short and tight and shiny, has received some critical feedback…

7. Seven Reasons Why Dr. Charles Stanley Stepping Down as Pastor Makes Me Sad…

Excerpt: He taught me how to “Obey God and Leave the Consequences to Him.” Of all of the sentences I’ve heard Dr. Stanley say since I’ve been following his ministry, this sentence is what I’ve heard him say the most. It’s a simple sentence but the power of this singular sentence can impact every area of your life if you let it. I remember when I decided to live up to my Christian convictions when I was in my 20s although I had been baptized as a teenager. One of the decisions I made was to stop clubbing and be in church on New Year’s Eve. Babay, although my best friends at the time grew up in church like I did, they did not understand my decision and I found myself alone a lot. And even when I was around them, I felt rejected. There were many times I sobbed because I felt so alone and rejected. I wondered why if I knew God and was getting to know Him better, my life seemed to have gotten worse, particularly my social life. But I kept obeying Him, and I realized that I had to only depend on God and not my friendships. And in time, God brought certain friendships back into my life, but by then I had learned that God moves friends in and out of your life and to not hold on to any of them too tightly. Only hold on to God…I obeyed and left the consequences to Him and eventually I learned the lesson…

8. Kierra Sheard Shares Wedding Photos on Her Instagram Page!

Excerpt: Clearly God is still in the blessing business even in 2020! Hallelujah! On the heels of her self-titled album KIERRA being a #1 on Billboard Top Gospel Album and the success of the Lifetime TV original movie The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, Lifetime’s highest-rated movie since 2016, Kierra Sheard has married Jordan Kelly! Apparently, it was a small wedding, but a bigger celebration is planned post pandemic!

9. Bishop T.D. Jakes Says We Should Pray for President Trump as He Battles Coronavirus, But Should We?

Excerpt: Even if you’re not a fan of President Trump, we all have to admit The Apprentice reality star turned politician knows how to get headlines and change the topic of the national conversation when he sees fit. A week ago Sunday, The New York Times reported that the president only paid $750 in taxes during 2016, the year he was elected president. Of course, that revelation caused a flurry of conversation. Although some may have thought the president won the presidential debate on Tuesday, others criticized his approach to debating and his directive to the white supremacist group Proud Boys. But by Friday, he managed to trump both of those conversations by announcing in the wee hours via Twitter that he and the First Lady have been diagnosed with the scourge of 2020 – COVID-19. And just like that, there has been very little talk of his taxes, debate performance and Proud Boys directive since.

10. Kierra Sheard Reveals Grandparents’ COVID-19 Diagnosis, What it Was Like Playing Her Mother in ‘The Clark Sisters’ Movie on Good Morning America

Excerpt: This morning on Good Morning America, gospel music star Kierra Sheard, who was interviewed by Michael Strahan, revealed that her grandparents are recovering from COVID-19, how she had to audition to play her mother Karen Clark Sheard in the the movie The Clark Sisters and more.

Sooo, whoomp, there it is..2020 is a wrap, folk! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Any thoughts?

 

Erica Campbell, Rickey Smiley, JD, Kierra Sheard & More Encourage Georgia Residents to Vote!

Hello World,

The National Urban League and The Super Bowl Gospel Celebration, which is the first and only inspirational concert sanctioned by the National Football League (NFL) and lead by Atlanta Native Melanie Few; are collaborating to present THE BLEND: GA SENATE SEAT EDITION; a holiday feel-good virtual give back event for the nation promoting voter engagement in preparation for the January 5th, 2021 Senate seat run-off elections in Georgia.

Co-hosted by award-winning radio personality Rickey Smiley and GRAMMY winner Erica Campbell, THE BLEND: GA SENATE SEAT EDITION is an inspirational, fun, uplifting, motivational, living room-style PRAISE PARTY mixing old school and new school Gospel Music with appropriate R&B and Hip-Hop music – with sounds by DJ DEX (“Sirius XM”). This edition will promote voter engagement for the very important senate race in Georgia. Viewers will be encouraged by Marc H. Morial, April Ryan, Jermaine Dupri, Sonja Norwood, Kierra Sheard, Isaac Carree, Bri Babineaux, JJ Hairston, Kelontae Gavin, Travis Greene and more.

THE BLEND: GA SENATE SEAT EDITION will broadcast virtually on the Facebook pages of The National Urban League and Super Bowl Gospel Celebration on Sunday, December 27th at 7/6c.

Any thoughts?

Why New Birth Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant Was Right to Respond to ‘Real Housewife’ Monique Samuels & Say He Won’t Appear on the Show Again…

Watch Episode 2 of the RHOP Reunion TONIGHT!

Hello World,

“I loves a messy pastor. God knows I do,” I decree and declare this Sunday morning in my Sofia from The Color Purple voice. Maybe that’s not right, but if you can’t tell the truth on a Sunday morning, when can you tell it, pray tell, Saints? Even before Pastor Jamal Bryant set foot in Atlanta to preach his first sermon at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church just two years ago on Dec. 9, he shook up the scene, and chile, for good reasons and not-so-good reasons, he continues to shake things up in the A and beyond.

And now Pastor Bryant has delivered a clap back to rival all clap backs. It was equal parts righteous, revealing and ratchet. But before we get into the specifics of the clap back, let me catch you up on the backstory. So apparently last Sunday, on the first episode of the reunion of The Real Housewives of Potomac, which I haven’t watched before but I will on tonight, Monique Samuels brought in a binder with tabs and everything to organize all of her receipts of misdeeds and mistruths regarding her castmates and used the binder to castigate them. (Aside: we have to thank Mitt Romney for bringing the “binder” to the culture. Remember his “binders full of women?” LOL) So Monique apparently had a tab dedicated to castmate Gizelle Bryant in which she accused Gizelle’s man, which is her former hubby Pastor Bryant, of cheating on her, referring to him as “Pastor Holy Whore.” That was the biggest allegation made, but there were other things she said, as Pastor Bryant addressed in his clap back.

Here’s a snippet of the reunion show.

So let’s get into this clap back, Saints. First let’s set the scene of this epic clap back. I imagine Pastor Bryant recorded this in his home as he is in front of a painted portrait of himself. Additionally, there are painted portraits of Nelson Mandela and Bob Marley. There are other striking painted portraits of black figures on the walls as well. Additionally,  Pastor Bryant is donning a black hoodie with the words “I’m an African Angel.” written in white words. Shout out to Paula White and her silly self! SMH! So just from the setting alone, we see that Pastor Bryant is coming from a righteous place. He’s not cowering somewhere. He is coming correct…

So next, Pastor Bryant pulls out his binder! Now, that is ratchet but reasonable. If Monique can pull out a binder, why can’t the pastor? Then he goes into why it took a bit to respond, he says he was working in the campaign to help his Morehouse brother Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof get elected to the senate. That’s right, pastor. First things first.  Elections before entertainment. Then he explains he was also working with my Soror Pinky Cole and her restaurant Slutty Vegan for a community food drive. And lastly but certainly not least of all, he was honoring “the wishes of Gizelle who asked me not to respond, not to say anything.” He goes on to say, “So to those of you who were overwhelmingly concerned that I hadn’t said anything and had not given any defense because I was honoring what it is that Gizelle desired. Because of mounting moments that have happened in social media, I thought it prudent that I not remain silent so that my silence will not be confused with consent.”

Then he explains that his response is not an apology nor is he asking for forgiveness for anything. It is the right thing to say straight out of the gate. If you’ve done nothing wrong, there is no need to apologize nor ask for forgiveness. This is simply his response. He also says for that five seasons that his ex-wife has been on The Real Housewives of Potomac, he has never mentioned the show in a sermon nor on his social media nor in any of the 50-odd interviews he does a year. In other words, why is Monique talkin’ about him when he has never talked about her?  Additionally, he puts it out there that he has “not been an advocate for many reality television shows because I don’t think it represents the best of who we are, nor does it advance our progress, our maturity or our brilliance.” His statement juxtaposed with the backdrop is a powerful statement. Y’all pray for me though because I still love me some ratchet reality television shows 🙁

And he says that Gizelle’s participation in RHOP has been a “bone of contention” for years between the reunited couple. So with all of that background, the pastor, who is a human first, had to respond. He doesn’t even like reality television in the first place and then he becomes the hot topic on a reality show! Again, to reemphasize this point, he was right to respond! He also reveals that while they were in the “baby steps” of their reconciliation, he agreed to be on the show “against my better judgment, against my wisdom and even against my convictions. I wholeheartedly regret participating, and I want you to know that I will never be on The Housewives of Potomac or anything in that franchise ever again.” That is a revelation for anyone wondering if the pastor will use the show to expand his platform. Nope. Not happening. He says the show has been a “gross misrepresentation of my character, my ministry and my humanhood.”

Furthermore, he addresses allegations that he has been an absent father regarding his relationship with his daughters. Apparently, there was some photo shoot with his daughters that he was not able to participate in, which was addressed on the show. But Pastor Bryant explains that he was coming from South Africa to be a part of the photo shoot but got delayed in Germany. He says the producers and network knew this but these details were left on the proverbial cutting room floor I guess. And he also reveals that the reunion was recorded in 2019, and that his daughters were upset with him as well because for the first time in their lives, he was not present to take them nor pick them up from school. Also, there was an adjustment period for the whole family as he had recently moved to Atlanta. But he concludes that his teenager daughters are “absolutely daddy’s girls.” I’m not a parent, but when I reflect on my relationship with my parents as a teenager, there were times when they got on my nerves. All of this is relatable, wouldn’t you say?

Additionally, and centrally, he addressed Monique’s cheating allegations and calling him a “holy whore” I guess for a previous relationship he has had since his divorce from Gizelle. “I’ve been divorced for 11 years and single people date. When you date, sometimes it works, and sometimes it didn’t. In this instance, it didn’t. Nothing immoral, illegal or unethical took place. It did not work out. There is some clarity that needs to happen. I’m not married, I’m not engaged, so some of you have a strange relationship with language. You can’t have a mistress while you’re single. I’ve never had any mistress. She has never been to visit me in Atlanta, she has never been to New Birth, never been to my home, I’ve never been in her home.” He also revealed that he is still working out the kinks in his relationship with his former father-in-law, who is his Kappa Alpha Psi brother, as his marriage with Gizelle ended in part due to his previous infidelity. And he has owned up to his infidelity in his previous marriage.

CORRECTION: Apparently, Pastor Bryant was not referring to Monique. He was referring to the woman in New York he supposedly dated…And most revealingly about Monique, he revealed that while she is steady calling him out, she has been calling him, trying to get a come up! “If we’re gonna show text messages, let’s show all the text messages. Let’s show the text messages of the young lady asking to fly to Atlanta for my installation. Show the text message where I said ‘Nah, that’s not a good idea.’ If you’re gonna show the text messages show all of the text messages, where you asked to come down for Memorial Day. I said ‘No. You can’t come here.’ If you’re gonna show the text messages, show the text messages where you complained because I didn’t open a door for you to speak on the Word network. If you’re gonna show text messages, show all of them. How it is you wanted me to hire you to be on staff. I told you you weren’t qualified.” She even asked him to review her dissertation on the empowerment of black women (say whut?), which he says didn’t have “enough depth, enough nuance and there is no creativity.” As a writer, that statement hurt the most! When you can’t say, “Amen,” say “Ouch,” Saints!

And then the clincher of the clap back is Pastor’s Bryant’s critique of Monique’s husband Chris Samuels, who he says has CTE!

“You live in a house with a man who has anger issues, who doesn’t mind expressing volatile behavior. Everything that I’m saying tonight is not conjecture. This is not murder, this is self-defense. On Sunday, for the first time in five years, I’m inviting my audience to watch the reunion of the ‘Housewives of Potomac’, you’ll see Monique’s husband try to attack my ex-wife. Security had to be called, he had to secured. I’m very concerned.”

See the clap back for yourself below!

Call his clap back righteous, revealing or ratchet, but don’t call me tonight because I’m watching RHOP for the first time on tonight at 9 p.m. on Bravo! LOL.

If you would like to keep up with pop culture from a Christian perspective, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?