Category Archives: Relationships

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The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Magazine Articles for Black Christian Women in December 2020…

Hello World,

Well, if you’re reading this, we’ve crossed over into 2021! Happy New Year! But indulge me just a little bit because  I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine articles for black Christian women. Pandemic or no pandemic, black women still did the doggone thang! Below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for December, 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. “Black Americans Donate a Higher Share of Their Wealth than Whites” by Michelle Singletary

Excerpt: So one day, I took a handful of the anti-inflammatory pills prescribed for my arthritis, stood at the sink in the bathroom and contemplated suicide. It was at this low point that I recalled Psalm 23, from one of the many sermons at the small church I attended with my grandmother in Baltimore: “For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” I let the drugs drop down the drain. It was a moment that never repeated, because of the many ways the church sustained me. At church, I found a community of people who cared about me and checked up on me. At church, premarital counseling helped me work through trust issues that might otherwise have troubled my now-29-year marriage. At church, a women’s group taught me how to forgive my parents. See more at: washingtonpost.com.

2. “Kizzmekia Corbett, an African American woman, is Praised as Key Scientist Behind COVID-19 Vaccine” by Laura RomeroSony SalzmanKaitlyn Folmer

Excerpt: Even before Corbett took on one of the most challenging tasks of her professional career, she was a force to be reckoned with. As a student,she was selected to participate in Project SEED, a program for gifted minority students that allowed her to study chemistry in labs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and eventually landed a full ride to the University of Maryland Baltimore County, according to The Washington Post. Corbett spent her summers at laboratories and earned a summer internship at the NIH, the very place where she would be instrumental in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. See more at: abcnews.go.com

3. “Clayton County School Names New School for Former First Lady Michelle Obama” by WSBTV.com News Staff

Excerpt: The school, formerly known as Eddie White Elementary School, has been renamed the Michelle Obama STEM Elementary Academy. The name-change process began in May when the county was in the process of building the new STEM school that be based on the Eddie White campus. “We are so excited that the former First lady accepted our request to have her name associated with our school,” said Ms. Marcia Payton-Edwards. “We noted in our request that it was fitting that our school be represented by the name Michelle Obama due to the ancestral connection of her great, great, great grandmother, Melvinia Shields McGruder, who was enslaved on a family farm in the Clayton County community of Rex.” See more at: wsbtv.com.

4. “Statue Of Civil Rights Icon Barbara Rose Johns to Replace Robert E. Lee in US Capitol” by Charise Frazier

Excerpt: However, due to the rage over a young Black girl’s insistence on rejecting substandard conditions, her safety was compromised. She was sent to live with family in Montgomery, Alabama, after members of the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in her yard. After high school where she attended Spelman College and finished her education at  Drexel University in Philadelphia. Johns married Rev. William Powell, and raised five children while working as a librarian in the Philadelphia Public School system. She died in 1991. The removal of Lee’s statue follows a string of actions directed toward Confederate imagery and symbols, signaling a time in America where separate was not equal, but the law. And the wages of activating against the status quo, could result in death. See more at: newsone.com.

5. “Bermuda Swears in Its First Female, Black Governor” by Associated Press

Excerpt: Rena Lalgie has been sworn in as Bermuda’s governor, marking the first time that the British territory in the Atlantic has a Black woman as its leader. The event occurred on Monday, a day after Lalgie arrived in Bermuda, a wealthy financial haven and popular tourist destination. The appointment was announced in June by Queen Elizabeth II. Lalgie previously served as director of the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanction Implementation. See more at: usnews.com.

6. “Miami Herald Names Monica Richardson First Black Executive Editor in Paper’s History” by David Smiley

Excerpt: Monica R. Richardson, currently the senior managing editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will join the Miami Herald Jan. 1 as its top editor, according to a McClatchy news release. “We are thrilled to welcome Monica to Miami,” Kristin Roberts, McClatchy’s senior vice president of news, said in a statement. “She has a strong record of leadership in local journalism at one of the great metro newsrooms in the country. Now, she brings her commitment to accountability journalism and a track record of successful digital innovation that serves local audiences.”  In an interview, Richardson said she is excited to lead the Miami Herald. Richardson will be the first Black executive editor in the Herald’s 117-year history. See more at: miamiherald.com.

7. “$500K Medical Missions Award Goes to OB-GYN Nun in Uganda” by Stefani McDade

Excerpt: Dr. Priscilla Busingye has a God-given passion to improve maternal health across Uganda, particularly in rural places where women often can’t get specialized care and dignified treatment. For years, Busingye would wake up before 6 a.m. for morning devotions and mass before heading to work at the maternity ward. As a nun and a physician at a rural hospital, her work was both rewarding and rigorous. She would set alarms on her phone to remind herself to pray for strength and energy throughout the day. See more at: christianitytoday.com.

8. “In Quest to Find Birth Family, Woman Makes ‘Life-Altering’ Discovery: She’s a Princess” by Char Adams

Excerpt: Culberson didn’t know much of this history when she began searching for her biological family at 28 years old. She was raised in West Virginia after being adopted by a white family, and later learned that her biological mother died when she was 11 and her father lived in a village in Sierra Leone. Her search for her birth family culminated in a call from her uncle; he delivered the news that changed Culberson’s life forever. See more at: nbcnews.com.

9. “Meet the Self-Published Author Who Negotiated a Deal With Netflix” by Lydia T. Blanco

Excerpt: In September, Booker was the only self-published author to strike and negotiate and deal with Netflix for their original series, Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices featuring Jill Scott, Common, and Tiffany Haddish. As a part of Netflix’s collaboration with the Black Caucus American Library Association and the Association for Library Services to Children, the Hey Carter! Book Brown Boy Joy was selected by the organizations for being in alignment with the social justice framework used for the show Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices. “Netflix requested that my book Brown Boy Joy be in the project because it focuses on building self-identity for children 0-5. Without formal representation, I successfully negotiated my contract with Netflix. I didn’t know I was the only self-published author on the show until after the show was released,” said Booker. See more at: forbes.com.

10. “Red Sox Hiring Bianca Smith as First Black Female Pro Baseball Coach” by Justin Tasch

Excerpt: Bianca Smith is making baseball history. The Red Sox are hiring Smith as a minor league coach, according to the Boston Globe. MLB confirmed to the Globe that Smith will be the first black woman ever to coach baseball at the professional level. See more at: nypost.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 blog, magazines 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  🙂.

Any thoughts?

 

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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?

 

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Pastor Tunya Griffin, Alleged Former ‘Girl Friend’ of Pastor Jamal Bryant, Refutes Statements He Made in His Clap Back Video…

Watch Episode 3 of the RHOP Reunion TONIGHT!

Interesting how she has speaking engagements as a pastor while having a sexual relationship with a pastor who is not her husband for several years…

Hello World,

I hope you had a socially distant Christmas with your family, friends and loved ones! I did 🙂 So y’all, last week, I wrote this post 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…Apparently, I made a mistake so let me correct that first of all. In the paragraph which starts with, “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,” I attributed the quotes that follow to being about Monique, but actually Pastor Bryant was referring to woman he dated who lives in New York. During episode of 1 of the RHOP reunion, Monique provided information regarding his former girl friend’s texts with Pastor Bryant as well as some of the conversations he had with this woman.

Well since Pastor Bryant released his clap back video, this woman, who has now been identified as Pastor Tunya Griffin, was interviewed by All About the Tea and Leonardo Blair of The Christian Post wrote an article Alleged Former Lover of Pastor Jamal Bryant Speaks Out After He’s Accused of ‘Egregious Sexual Conduct’ about this interview. Below is an excerpt:

A woman who alleges she had a yearslong intermittent sexual relationship with Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, is suggesting that he be removed from the pulpit because he’s not fit to be a spiritual leader.

“We all have sinned and we’ve all fallen short, but we can’t keep thinking that it’s OK to get your ‘get out of jail free card’ every time you do this,” said the woman, Tunya Griffin, who serves as associate director of university/community partnerships at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

“That’s not grace at all. And so the response of the church is around this ideal: if somebody falls we help them get up. We clean them up and we bring them back into the fold. OK, yes, we do. They fall. We clean them up. We bring them back in. But that does not mean that you bring them back in to occupy the same space,” she said.

Griffin spoke out about her relationship with Bryant in an interview posted on YouTube Tuesday in which she claimed the unmarried pastor pursued other relationships and fathered at least two children over the period they were intimate. Read the rest HERE.

Below is the All About the Tea Interview:

So I have a few reactions to this video. Firstly, I watched about 43 minutes of the interview which lasts for 1 hour, 24 minutes and 54 seconds. She starts off by stating that she and Pastor Bryant met at a speaking engagement where Pastor Bryant signed copies of his book World War Me: How to Win the War I Lost in 2011. After she read his book, she posted on social media about how good the book was. Pastor Bryant saw the post and slid into her DMs, she said. From that point, they had an off-and-on relationship which was sexual for a period of years. At the very beginning of this video, Tunya introduced herself. The first thing she said about herself is that she is a pastor. Now, as a pastor, she must be familiar with the passage to “flee fornication” as an unmarried person in 1 Corinthians 6:18. So that is the first problem I have with her. She has every right to tell her story, but throughout the video, she questions Pastor Bryant’s character and morals, but what about her character and morals? She even had pictures of Pastor Bryant in bed which are displayed in the interview!

She also stated that Pastor Bryant contacted her about the time it was reported that he was reconciling with his ex-wife Gizelle Bryant. (This would be around September 2019.) Not wanting to be a homewrecker, she asked him about that and he said the reconciliation was simply a reality TV plot and not a real reconciliation. Monique produced texts between Pastor Griffin and Pastor Bryant that demonstrates this exchange. Once he explained the situation, apparently the two met in Buffalo, New York and spent time with each other as he was there for business purposes. Again, if you’re a pastor, why are you in relationship with a man who is a liar? It says Proverbs 6:16-19, that are six things that the Lord hates and one of those is a “lying tongue.”

She also talked about how his parents, who are in ministry as well, must be disappointed by his wrongdoings including allegedly fathering illegitimate children throughout the course of their relationship. In addition, she also said she was a parent at the beginning of the interview. If you’re a parent, why are you seeing a man who is allegedly fathering children here, there and everywhere and not claiming them as his children?

And Pastor Griffin knows scriptures too because she refers to the Bible many times during the course of the interview…

I must say that if these allegations are true, I really hate it for the flock at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church because they’ve already suffered through having a scandalous shepherd. But at the same time, I wouldn’t want Pastor Tunya Griffin as my pastor nor my parent either…But for entertainment purposes alone, the video is worth watching…She even compares Pastor Bryant to President Trump…

And I let me share this verse as I conclude. Do with it as you will:

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1

Anywho, episode 3 of the The Real Housewives of Potomac will be broadcast tonight at 9 p.m. on Bravo, and I will be watching…smhh…(shaking my holy head)

Will you?

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?