Category Archives: Scriptures

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3 Reasons Why I’m Glad Michelle Williams & Pastor Chad Johnson Are Reportedly ‘Working on Things!”

Hello World,

Last April, I was so excited when I heard the engagement story of Michelle Williams & Pastor Chad Johnson that I wrote “7 Reasons Why I Love That Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child is Engaged to Pastor Chad Johnson!” Below is an excerpt:

1. Michelle Williams had to wait on the Lord…We’ve all heard that God is an on-time God, and He is. But the caveat is He may not come when you want Him to come, but He’s always on time…I must confess that I hate that sometimes…God’s timing that is…But there are so many verses that address waiting on God’s timing that I have to conclude that waiting is a part of the Christian life…Below are three of these verses:

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

“The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” Lamentations 3:25

“Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7

I bet it was hard to watch Beyoncé get married 10  years ago, Kelly get married 4 years ago while Michelle, who is making gospel  albums, was just waiting for God’s best to arrive! She had even gotten to the point where she was bitter about love. This is a quote from  her Instagram page: “I used to be so bitter and a hater when Valentine’s Day  would come around. I even found myself tweeting things like “Valentine’s Day is for suckers!” Welp….I’m a sucker! The Lord has been kind!” But her “someday my prince will come” story started last year and from what I’ve read, he is an admiral man of God, a pastor no less! But like I’ve learned”“Eye has not seen, nor  ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Read the rest HERE.

Since last April, unfortunately, a lot changed. The main thing from what I can tell is that the two of them decided to share their road to the altar via their OWN reality series “Chad Loves Michelle.” Lord, why did they do that?  I watched every episode and really enjoyed it but seeing all of the online dissection of every exchange they had and the day-to-day events of their lives was just toxic. I truly believe that no relationship, even the most stable relationship, can truly flourish if its being scrutinized and picked apart by people outside of the relationship. I mean, according to the Bible, even our very own parents, the ones who loved us first, are not supposed to be in a couple’s relationship because what goes on in a relationship is sacred and must be protected. #LeaveAndCleave That being said, below are my 3 reasons why I’m glad that Michelle Williams and Pastor Chad Johnson appear to be “working on things” according to Page Six although they broke up at the conclusion of their reality show.

They were spotted together at the Kentucky Derby over the weekend. Check out this Instagram post from The Jasmine Brand. They look really happy 🙂

 

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#MichelleWilliams enjoys the #KentuckyDerby festivities with #ChadJohnson #ChrisTucker #Amerie and more

A post shared by the Jasmine BRAND (@thejasminebrand_) on

1. Some relationships don’t start out smoothly. It was evident by watching “Chad Loves Michelle” that were issues to work out. Michelle has admitted she had some mental health concerns. They are an interracial couple so there were assumptions and belief systems that had to be worked through. Michelle seemed to be skittish regarding commitment. These are just the things that I observed not to mention the fact that Michelle is a major celebrity.  From my own experience, I know for a fact that some relationships are not easy from the onset. One person commented online that this part of their relationship was supposed to be the easiest part…According to whom? Prior to my relationship with my husband, I had never been in a relationship longer than 8 months! I realize now that I choose men who didn’t want to be committed to me and subconsciously, I didn’t want to be committed either. But when my husband came along, I knew he was special but commitment felt foreign to me. I started a lot of arguments with him as result. Thank God he was patient with me, but had this all played out on television, I’m sure folk would be telling him to run and fast…LOL…

2. How they came together looked like how God works. If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you start to recognize when something is just not good, it’s God. This is not something I can explain, well, maybe I can, but I don’t have time to this morning, but maybe on another day when I have time, I will. But the engagement story of Michelle Williams and Pastor Chad just seemed like it was divinely done. One fact that sticks out to me is the fact that Pastor Chad started saving for an engagement ring that he would present to his fiancée 11 years ago. This is what he told PEOPLE magazine: “On my 30th birthday, everybody came and celebrated me. The next day, I woke up alone. I was so lonely. I had a little pity party. My personal life was lacking so much, and I  was living so single,” recalls Johnson, who turns 41 in July. “So as a response to that moment, I opened up a ring account, and for 11 years, I put $150 into a ring account.” As the old saints say, I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me. I don’t think God lead his servant (a pastor, mind you) to save for an engagement ring for 11 years only to have him present it to the wrong woman. When my hubby came into my life, I had declared myself done with dating. I had concluded that it must not be God’s will for me to get married because every relationship I had just disintegrated. And not longer after that declaration, God did what He does…

3. My hubby said Pastor Chad was a good dude. I know you must be rolling your eyes at this one, but hear (read) me out. Hubby and I have have very different TV viewing tastes. For example, he watches car shows, “Incredible Hulk” reruns and basketball.” I watch “Sex and the City” reruns, “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and Wendy Williams. Well, one Saturday night, he decided to watch an episode or two of “Chad Loves Michelle” with me. Every once in a while, my hubby will watch what I’m watching but will be criticizing things the whole time. He thinks the housewives are catty and that Wendy Williams is mean and nosy. But as he watched “Chad Loves Michelle,” he said that the pastor looks like a good dude. I turned and looked at him and said, “I know.” I told him that various people online were criticizing him and I couldn’t figure out why. He told me that he didn’t know about all of that but that Pastor Chad seemed like a genuine guy, the kind of guy you could introduce your sister to because he was nice. I.WAS.SHOCKED. My hubby isn’t perfect, but my hubby and my father are the kindest men that I know. If they say you are good people, I believe them.

So these are my three reasons. Have I proved my case? What do you think?

And thankfully, Michelle and Pastor Chad are taking a different approach now that they are “working on things.” Apparently, Michelle has noticed that people have noticed they are spending time together again. This is what she said on Twitter about it…

Yes, I know that Michelle and Pastor Chad opened their relationship to the public before, but now they’ve decided to close it. That’s why you can open AND shut a door. People are allowed to change their minds and praise God, I hope they continue to mind their business and not let outsiders in it…

Any thoughts?

 

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Hope Carpenter, former First Lady of Pastor John Gray’s Relentless Church, Threatens Greenville News With a Knife, Saying ‘I Cut People!’

Hello World,

Pastor Hope Carpenter aine no Beyoncé or Hillary Clinton for matter. There is no hot sauce in her bag. On Sunday, the former First Lady and co-founder (along her with her husband Pastor Ron Carpenter) of Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville, South Carolina, returned to her church renamed Relentless Church under Pastor John Gray and told the congregation, “I cut people. I got a knife right there in that pocketbook. Greenville News, come on.”  That’s right Greenville News, pull up on the pastor if you want to…(I can only imagine the discussions taking place in the newsroom about this…)

If you don’t believe me, see for yourselves…Go to about :35…

Her sharp (LOL) words were part of an overall public show of support for Pastor John and his wife Aventer Gray, who took over the church after the Carpenters left. As you probably know, the Grays have been really going through some thangs in terms of the all of the media coverage they have garnered. She told the Grays, “I love you, Pastor John and Pastor Aventer. I believe in you. I’m praying for you. I’m rooting for you.”

As far as The Greenville News is concerned, the media outlet recently ran this story: John Gray asks Relentless Church members to give $250K to help pay for church roof. Daniel J. Gross reported that, “Redemption had accrued substantial debt that Relentless has had to assume responsibility for when Gray took over. ‘(Ron Carpenter) handed us keys. The keys were not to a paid off building, the keys were to an opportunity, an opportunity to continue the work,’ Gray said. “Nothing you see is paid off. It wasn’t paid off when we got here.'”

The article ended with this paragraph: “Gray and Relentless Church came back into the spotlight in January when The Greenville News reported that Gray was living in a $1.8 million home in Simpsonville that was funded by the church. Church leaders said the particular parsonage is what was needed to entice a pastor of Gray’s ‘caliber’ to Greenville.

As a journalist with a journalism degree and over 20 years of experience, I will say this: journalists don’t make the news, they simply report it. Sometimes, people will like how they are covered by the media and many times, they will not. (Thus the term “fake news.” Anything that you don’t like is fake…SMH…) That is price of being in the public eye. What you do will be reported and as a result, you will be praised and or criticized. That being said, there are many people (notice I didn’t say journalists) “reporting” on the news and various issues who seem to not want to present facts or even fairly presented opinions, they seem to want to tear people down. As a Christian first and as a journalist second, I will not do that. Yes, my critiques (and I have critiqued many on this blog) may not always be liked but no one can claim that I called them everything but a child of God or that I tried to send them to hell with my words.

As THE Word says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) While this verse applies to spoken words, I think it can be applied to written words as well.

As far as Pastor Hope Carpenter’s words are concerned, a Relentless Church spokesman Holly Baird told this to The Greenville News the following day:

“While we believe Pastor Hope was joking, we completely understand how her comments could be received in today’s climate,” said spokeswoman Holly Baird, in a written statement. “Neither our pastors or anyone in our leadership would agree with any type of communication that would encourage or incite violence against another individual or entity.”

Ultimately, I believe Pastor Hope Carpenter was joking as well, but with the way the media is being attacked right now, this needed to be said…

So what do you think about Pastor Hope Carpenter at Relentless Church this past Sunday?

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

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Why Pastor Jamal Bryant Should Get Married Following Tweet’s Announcement That She is Done With Church…

Hello World,

Back in November, shortly after Dr. Jamal Bryant was named the new pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, I penned this post ‘Should Divorced Men Such as Dr. Jamal Bryant, Newly Named New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor, Be Allowed in the Pulpit?’ Many people had varied opinions and I understand why. But after all that New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has been through, at the end of the day, I wished and do wish Dr. Bryant well as he puts his stamp on this well-known but beleaguered church. And I’m taking notice of what he has done thus far. I wrote one complete post about one of his initiatives, ‘New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant & Members Give Approximately $300 Each to Members Affected By Government Shutdown…’ and I mentioned the FREE City Wide Wedding the church held in another post.

I enjoyed listening to his recent interview with Dr. Rashad Richey, a local radio show host, at Beulah Heights University!

I found him to be very transparent about himself and his ministry. (And he is too charismatic!) He mentioned that while he was a student at Morehouse College, education, in the traditional sense, wasn’t his primary goal. He said, “On paper, my major was political science, but in actuality, my major was Spelman.” Ha! He also revealed that being called to ministry does not mean you are not flawed. He said, “I’m anointed, but I hate sleeping alone.” He offered this as one example of being a flawed person in ministry. He didn’t say he was referring to himself when he made that statement, but given his past, you have to wonder. I mean this was the man who had to address a random paternity allegation just three years ago!

And now his most recent girlfriend R&B Singer Charlene Keyes known as Tweet (that we know of anyway) is saying she is done with church! Remember when he called her his last lady! And that was just in 2016…

Well, chile, in a Instagram Live video from a few days ago, Tweet and her daughter Shenice discuss their dislike for the church. Without apology, Tweet said she will speak her “truth.”

“It’s coming out in the music, it’s coming out in interviews, It’s coming out. I’m saying what I want to say. I’m not shading nobody. I’m telling my truth. And church has been the worst, I will not do church anymore. I love God like you said, and I have a relationship with God, but you won’t see me in nobody’s church house, not giving nobody my tithe, not giving 10 percent to nobody, period.”

Tweet explained that people presented themselves one way in a public setting but acted in another way in private. She said it really shocked her because her pastor that she knew while she was growing up had integrity. She also mentioned another pastor in Atlanta that she feels has integrity.

“Bishop Weeks, who was an incredible man of God, integral, Bishop Weeks, if he still had his church in Atlanta, I would drive there and go to his church. He taught me integrity.”

That statement to me was very telling. Does Tweet live in the metro Atlanta area? Her former man’s church is in the metro Atlanta and she didn’t say anything about driving out there!

You have to wonder what went down in their relationship. It’s not a good look when your former boyfriend has been named the new pastor of a church in another city and now you’re done with church and talking about it! They reportedly broke up last year! And Tweet mentioned going out to have a cocktail twice in that video! She was once a heavy drinker by her own admission and now she’s joking about going to have a cocktail after going off about church…What’s really going on?

Smh…chile….I fear that a scandal is waiting to happen at New Birth…And if it’s one thing that New Birth does not need it’s a new scandal. That church is not over the old scandal yet…

I’m not saying that Pastor Bryant should just pick the first woman that he sees, but the Word says that it’s not good for any man to be alone (“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18) and this man in particular it seems…

So if Pastor Bryant meets a nice woman who has what it takes to be a First Lady (And it kind of messed up that Pastor Bryant and Tweet didn’t make it because she would have been a saaangin First Lady too) and after thorough premarital counseling (because pastors need counseling too), he should go ahead and get that done sooner rather than later. As the Word says, “Now to the unmarried  and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” 1 Corinthians 7:8-9

He’s a man of a particular age so he should know what he wants by now. And it shouldn’t be that difficult to find her with all of the suitable woman we have in Atlanta 🙂

So what y’all think?

Any thoughts?