Category Archives: Scriptures

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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?

 

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Claremont United Methodist Church Highlights ‘Black Lives Matter’ in Nativity Scene…

Hello World,

Christmas is literally hours away at this point so I hope we take time out of our busy schedules to reflect on the meaning of the season which is summed up in this beautiful verse: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

I love to see varied nativity scenes, but I’ve never seen one like what Claremont United Methodist Church in Claremont, California is featuring on its grounds! The words “Black Lives Matter” as well as other striking statements are included in its nativity scene. See an excerpt of the story “Church Makes Statement With Black Lives Matter-Themed Nativity Scene: ‘It Was a Natural Choice'” by Kerry Justich on Yahoo.com below.

A church in California is making a statement about racial injustice in America by turning its nativity scene into a display of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The scene that sits just outside of Claremont United Methodist Church in Claremont features the Virgin Mary, Joesph and a racially ambiguous baby Jesus in front of a wall of protestors holding up signs reading “I can’t breathe,” “Jesus wept” and “Racism is a pandemic too.” Just above the illustration, a sign reads, “Say their names” with a list of Black Americans who were unjustly murdered, including Emmett Till, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Pam Bunce, who chairs the Creative Peacemaking Committee responsible for the nativity scene at the church, tells Yahoo Life that making socially impactful statements with the display is something that they’ve done at the church for just over a decade.

“Each year we look at social justice issues, and select the theme for that year. Our church property is just a frontage road away from [a busy boulevard], so is highly visible to the community,” she explains. “We believe that, as beautiful as the Christmas story is, it’s only the beginning. We believe that Jesus came to Earth to minister to the marginalized and the oppressed. It’s not a sentimental story. It’s a bold story of commitment and service. Too often that part of the story is left out.” Read the rest HERE.

Also, below is an excerpt of the church’s theological statement, which is posted on the church’s web site, explaining its nativity scene.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a young Jewish woman, who lived in a remote part of the Roman Empire. As a Jew, Mary was marginalized with few personal rights and significant obligations to the Roman ruling class. As a woman, Mary was powerless in the face of those who ruled, both the Roman authorities and the Temple leaders who conspired with them…The brutal killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in the summer of 2020, along with so many other unjustified killings of unarmed Black Americans, galvanized a wide coalition of Americans to seek equal justice under the law and equal treatment in our society for people of color. We affirm and join the call for justice and equity by the Black Lives Matter movement to ensure that Black lives matter as much as any other life. Our faith in Christ challenges us to stand with Mary in her call for justice for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed.

Do you agree with this nontraditional nativity scene?

Any thoughts?

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Three Gifts Guaranteed to Give You Christmas Cheer…Even During the Coronavirus Crisis!!!

Hello World,

Hello World,

I’ve said this before, but I will say it again: Christmas is supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year!” So if your eyes aren’t twinkling like they are Christmas lights, if jingle bells aren’t attached to your ankles or if you are not burping up eggnog, you obviously don’t possess that sometimes elusive Christmas cheer


I know that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but can I be honest? Sometimes even knowing that isn’t enough to dredge up that Christmas cheer that everyone is supposed to be cloaked in like an expensive heavy coat that you only wear on special occasions
especially during the coronavirus crisis when you also have to wear a mask “everywhere you go.” (To the tune of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”)

Still despite the manufactured Christmas cheer that retailers will lead you to believe can only be bought, I have discovered there are three gifts, not 12, not enough for your whole family or all your network, simply three that will stoke the furnace of genuine Christmas cheer within you


I don’t know if it is the example of the three Wise Men or because God is the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit or at the suggestion of my favorite author Catherine Marshall, but in my 20s, I decided that in addition to the gifts I would give to my friends and family, I would also give three gifts to Jesus


Now, how does one go about giving gifts to Jesus? Although I feel His presence with me, I have never seen nor touched Him physically
So how was I supposed to do that? I was led to these three verses below as I came up with a way to give three gifts to Jesus


 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:30

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:3-4

So what do these three verses mean?

1. I was give without expectation of receiving anything back.

2. I was to give to people and or organizations that served “the least of these.”

3. I was to give in secret and not tell a soul.

I have never revealed what I have done before, but since I am writing a post about this, let me share some of the gifts I have given over the years as a testimony to how God has blessed me with authentic Christmas cheer as a result
.

There was once a homeless man that I saw every day as I walked from one location to another in downtown Atlanta
All of the store owners on the street were kind to him, and I could see why
He was kind and mannerly and even funny sometimes
I don’t why he was homeless, but he seemed content to live on the street
I thought that since he seemed like he wanted to be on the street, I could at least help keep him warm
I tried to figure out what what size pants the man wore and bought him a pair of jeans (he always had on jeans) and a blanket
When I handed him the wrapped up gift, he seemed not to know what I was handing to him until I explained it was a Christmas gift
Then he smiled
That simple smile made me glow on the inside


Another year, I decided to volunteer one Saturday at My Sister’s House at the Atlanta Mission
I helped hand out supplies to the women and children who were staying at the shelter
At that particular time in my life, I pretty much hated my job and the fact that I was too poor to move out of my parents’ house
But spending just one Saturday at the shelter showed how much I had to be grateful for
My mom has always told me if you want to feel better, forget about yourself


And finally another one of my secret three gifts was the doll I gave to a Christmas toy drive one year
although I am not a girly girl, I have always LOVED dolls
I wanted a new doll every  Christmas for years and years
in fact, I used to worry that as a fifth grader, someone at school would find out I still played with dolls and I would be teased
So one year I decided to give the prettiest, most girly, luxurious hair-having doll I could find and afford to a toy drive
I don’t know what girl was the recipient of that doll, but if I have learned anything about God, I know that “every good and perfect gift” comes from Him
I’m sure that the girl who received that doll was the very girl that wished for and deserved that gift


Although the Christmas countdown has begun,  there is more than enough time to give (and get) Christmas cheer


Any thoughts?