You have the right to remain...Black!

"Stay Black and die"! That was often the response to some instigation or dare. I don't have to do anything, but stay black and die. There was often some venom in the statement. A fight might have ensued shortly after a statement like that.
We have submitted our culture to many Pastors, here and there, in the attempt at being glorifying to God in our worship. I would never say that I cannot submit myself to someone of a different culture than myself, but even God who made us Black intended us to be Black. We can respect and condescend to the whims and idiosyncracies of other cultures, in the fear of God and in humility, but to change our color is not ours to give.
God has made us Black and Black is not a sin. I consider it a privilege to have been made Black and to reflect the image of God in the humility of the heritage of slavery. Jesus humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant. Halleluia for the privilege of knowing the humility of faith. God condemns pride and we have gone from pillar to post to work on the remaining pride that we see in our souls. But He has not called us not to "Remain Black!"

The understood and special unspoken.

I felt so stupid, when I was first saved. There is a common knowledge of so many things in African American Christianity, I found it confounding. Some things are explained that seem to be common knowledge to me and other things are unspoken. Hidden verses and understandings of certain scriptures were common knowledge to a 2 year old in church. I would say, what is he talking about. I wrote so many questions on paper in the sermons. What did he mean by that? Why was he talking about that? As everybody knows was like a small taste of chocolate on somebody's finger...I would run home to find out who is David? What is a Philistine? These terms were bantered about and I had no clue.
I found that sometimes this can be good and sometimes this can be bad, because, if we are left to our own understanding we can make up something that is untrue from something being taught in truth. Little children do this all the time. The sentiment seemed to be that, when they know Jesus, He will make all things plain to them. I kept saying to myself, I gave my heart to Him and I still don't know. I would suffuse myself in the scriptures looking for the answers and some of those answers were more in the cultural heritage common to them than in the scriptures. As, I had always prided myself an astute African American woman with knowledge of the cultural mores, I felt all the more inept at not being able to ascertain to this gnosticish Christian knowledgable experience. Stuff, like the spelling and grammar of sentences were secondary, which were taught to me as primary and yet the understanding seemed to illude my senses completely. I doubted my knowledge of God and felt somewhat demeaned at the fact that no one explained these truths, everyone espoused to me. Sunday School helped.

The Responsorial Psalm!

I love the African American version of the responsorial Psalm. There are certain things that they constantly assume would be the desire of the Christian. It is always so convicting to see it.
When I was a child, we were taught to be invited to participate in the responsorial Psalm. This past week, when Larry got up to sing, Praise the Lord all ye nations. I could, as it were, hear the angels make the invitation to respond, "You are now invited to participate in the responsorial Psalm." Lift Him up all peoples.
Who wouldn't want to lift up the name of Jesus, when invited so pleasantly. We can be a spectator at worship, or we can be a worshipper.
Somehow, after the Lord saved me, the people around, seemed so adept at praise and worship, that it was often tempting to be a spectator and not a worshipper. I saw that so clearly, this Sunday; how the nations are learning from the strengths of one another. I was blessed to enter into the praise and worship of God, without a verbal invitation and even, when a spectator, I have been blessed to enter in.

Why was I made to hear Thy voice and enter while there's room;
When thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve, than come.

Thoughts on the salting of the snow roads.

Is my sin going to melt or need I salt the streets? I do let myself stew in a course of bad habits like the ice on the ground and leave it there, choosing not to salt the course or clean up the mess until I “good and well” please. Sanctification and the progress of knowing God in my soul is helped or hindered by my behavior and contributions. If there is one thing that we will regret in heaven, it is that we didn’t get to know the Lord more upon this earth. How could I have missed Your goodness in this or that situation? We will ask ourselves and those are the tears that the Lord will wipe away.
Gotta Be Startin Somethin-

Mortification of sin is learning and growing in the efforts of seeking out God to deliver and make inroads of righteousness in the stubborn areas that have been affected by sin. We have known so little progress in taking captivity captive, because we choose the course of retreat as opposed to the course of combat. Do we study the world that we live in, to inject the skills of civilization and righteous living into the habits and hearts of the young people. That is a task of parenting. Wrestling into the hearts and minds, skills that will allow them to be successful in their long term relationships: Both skills of protection of self and skills of common interaction.

Books of family direction-

Stories of struggle and overcoming the strifes of the previous seasons in America and the skills that have allowed people to enjoy and produce effective offspring and families. When the family becomes defunct, destruction is not far behind.
Sometimes in our zeal for the coming of the Lord, which is imminent; we neglect to have a longterm vision for usefulness and skill development for the next generations. Though He tarries, I must persevere; should be my mindset. “Work, as if on that alone, hung the issue of the day. Pray, that help may be sent down. Watch and Pray.” We certainly do watch for His appearing, or sleep as the case may be. Charting, as did earlier generations, the effects of the current philosophies and equipping the Saints of God to do the work of the ministry in their providing their children to stay hand in hand with Jesus in the torrents of storms. We know Jesus, because somebody stood against the tides of foolish mindsets and godless philosophies and gave you the tools to see and know God, although all Hell tells you that if there is a God, you don’t need Him in these days. Somebody showed you that this is what God tells us to do and this is how to do it. Repentance and faith, initially and then walking in the fear and admonition of the Lord, is instructed, not to be taken lightly. Not just the don’ts. The do’s. What do I do when I am bombarded in the world and mud gets into my mind as with the music and movies and internet etc. How do we walk with a good conscience in this multimedia world?
Ice is always on the ground and if you do not have the salt to put on it, you will skid into the ditch. It seems so easy to see that here where the snow is one inch thick, but, even in NY where the piles of snow may be over 6 feet, there are salt trucks that give the streets a covering that penetrate the ice and make the driving not as treacherous. Perhaps it is more dangerous in the Bible belt in a way to try to serve God, because when the temptations come there has been no practice dealing with them. So we just give in. In volleyball practice we serve and bump and spike and set, with no whistle to control the moves and no formation and then, after these skills have been inculcated, when the whistle blows, instinct does its work and at first you are surprised that you are able to remember and do the right thing. My knees were knocking together I was so nervous in my first volleyball game. There is no way that I am going to remember what a bump is much less how to hit it. Mr. T said yes you will. When the whistle blows your knees will stop knocking and that is when instinct comes in. It sure did. I was surprised at what I could do sometimes when the whistle blew. It is the parents job to practice the lifeskills so that when the whistle blows (I do or in the work environment) they don’t blow the game for lack of practice. Did you practice making ammense with your brother or sister? Did you practice healing a broken relationship and compromising? All of the difficulties that happen in family will happen again and again in the learning environment. Are you going to let the negative patterns rule the day?

Because Your compassions fail not from January 29th

What a gift in the sunrise this morning was a special present! I was delighted and surprised when I unwrapped the morning craziness and underneath the craze of the preparation and missing items was the catching of a beautiful rainbow. That is why you allowed me to miss the bus this morning, Lord. I thought. If I had been early as usual, I would have missed that wondrous sight.

Ethy’s lost coat and Ezra’s silly story about walking to school and the mess of trying to motivate the unhelpfulness of a woman who is struggling with her identity and the teenage simplicity of the daughter, who is looking for a place to hide and go from the responsibility; all worked together in my life, this morning, to lead me to the gift of the sight of the most precious expression of the promise of God.
Yes, He seems to say, I have allowed Haiti to be in pain and torment right now, but I have promised never to flood the entire world with a flood, for your sins, again. That is what comforted Noah; at looking at the loss of his entire generation. That comforts me, this morning, at the thought of so many in grief and loss, under the providential care of our Loving Lord.

God, You are still God, even when Your providences illude my senses. I look at Your rainbow and remember that Your mercy still endures. It is of Your mercies that we are not all consumed. Because Your compassions fail not!

"Why was I made to hear Your voice,
and enter while there's room,
When others make a dreadful choice and rather starve than come?"