Category Archives: Uncategorized

Posted on

Freaknik 2010?

Hello World!

Although I live in the A, I’ve managed to ignore most of the buzz about the supposed upcoming Freaknik activities this weekend…suffice it to say, I will avoid this event at all costs…however,  roughly 15 years ago, I would have been all up in Freaknik – booty shorts, halter top, Halle Berry cut and all…

I guess that’s why I’m off two opinions about Freaknik…Although Freaknik was always deemed as an event for college-age students, I started going to Freaknik in the tenth grade….of course, when I was in high school, I had to be home by midnight…in college, I didn’t come “home” at all…From what I understand, Freaknik started as a tame picnic in our local parks, but by the time it ended in 1996 or so, it was a raucous street party which served up youthful spontaneity as the appetizer, shameless debauchery as the main course and regretful hangovers as the dessert…And I yet I reveled in it…and I came away from it unharmed because my parents raised me right and I knew better than to do things I would be ashamed of later…it was fun…I was young….etcetera etcetera…

It seems that that people who are criticizing Freaknik now are people who probably partied with the best of them in Freaknik’s heyday…and at the same time, I understand that as responsible adults (including me —wow), we have to make sure that our streets and children are safe. Atlanta’s Mayor Kasim Reed has scheduled a press conference for later today to address these concerns…I guess this verse applies…

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a (wo)man, I put childish ways behind me. 1 Corinthians 13:11

But it sure was fun back in the day….so in honor of Freaknik in years past, I have posted an article about Freaknik  written by Crystal Paulk  in 1994 for The Red and Black, UGA’s student newspaper…(Yes, I saved the article…it was just that fun…)

Any thoughts?

Posted on

Holy, Holy, Holy…

Hello World, 

A week from today, we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ…and so today is the first day of Holy Week…And we are commanded in His Word to be holy…

1 Peter 1:15-19 (New International Version)

15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[a]

 17Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

As I go throughout the week in the hustle and bustle of daily living, I pray that I will pause and take time to thank God for His sacrifice for me…Sometimes I am stunned that I even call myself a Christian…Not because I don’t feel love for the Lord in my heart, but because I am a person that is ever so prone to anxiety and fear…You would think with all of the verses in the Bible about not having fear and anxiety, I would not be this way…but it is what it is sometimes…And yet as I type these words, I know that the Lord loves me — an anxious and fearful sinner…

And I so as I revel in His love for me, I have to offer my praise….And we are commanded to praise the Lord in His Word…

Psalm 150 (New International Version)

Psalm 150

 1 Praise the LORD. [a]
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.

In Jesus’ name, amen, amen and amen…

 

 

Posted on

Plan B aka the long winding road of life…

 

Hello World,

We’ve all heard this quote before….”Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” John Lennon…The older I get, the more I realize that is true…But for the Christian, we have to realize that that the plans we have for ourselves may  not necessarily be the plans that God has for us…a bitter pill to swallow sometimes when a cherished plan hangs in the balance, but something to be reckoned with all the same…I was talking with a friend last night about some of his current life circumstances, and I finally had to let him know that God speaks through closed doors in our lives as much as He does through open doors…And sometimes those doors seem to be closed due our own folly, yet He still allowed it to happen because of His plans for us…

I think back to when I first decided to live a Christian life for real just after graduating from college…With God on my side, I just knew that I would get a good job at a magazine or newspaper….It would  only be a matter of sending off my resume and cover letter…But that was not the case….It took me THREE years to get a decent job in my field…and the economy was good back then….It really freaked me out at the time…Let me brag for a minute…I had graduated from one of the notable journalism schools in the country, and I had skipped the entrance exam to get into j-school due to my SAT score…I had journalism scholarships…I had good grades particularly within my major…I had four journalism internships on my resume…and I had ambition…but I just couldn’t get a job in my field…

I couldn’t figure out why AFTER I turned my life over to Jesus Christ, my life got worse instead of better…After so many closed doors, I wondered if God really intended for me to be a working journalist after all…In fact, I ended up working in public relations for a minute…Looking back, I realize that I was going through God’s boot camp so to speak…It kind of reminds of what happened to Jesus after He was baptized…he was sent to the desert to be tempted by the devil for 40 days before He officially started His ministry…In my case, I believe my period of testing happened so I could get to know God…I prayed and cried a lot during that time…As most people know, it’s during the bad times of our lives that we learn the most…And sometimes that includes making a plan B…

Thankfully, today I am a working journalist…My plan A is still God’s plan A for me…but I was (am) willing to go a different way if that is what God wanted…I’m reminded that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar although Isaac was God’s cherished gift to him…and God told Abraham that would be the father of many generations to come…I’m sure that Abraham wondered how this was going to happen if he murdered his only son…but he was willing to do what God asked…and just as Abraham was about to commit the deed, God showed up with a ram in the bush for him to sacrifice instead…God wants us to be willing to sacrifice anything for Him…even our plan A….

Still, I am encouraged by the many verses in the Bible that clearly show that God always has our good in mind even when we are going through the bad…

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

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

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Any thoughts?

P.S. This Yolanda Adams song really encouraged me when I was “going through…”

P.P.S. Lil Wayne ain’ gon’ work when you’re “going through…” 🙂