When Dawn's husband lost his job two years ago, she was embarrassed and scared. "Not realizing it at the time, I started to separate myself from him," she writes. When she attended a recent Weekend to Remember® marriage conference with her husband, it "opened up windows of opportunity to freely talk about anything without fear."
But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Some black folk ought to be sent "straight to DVD" for the disrespect they showed to Tavis Smiley during the election, simply because, as a black man, he would not get on the Obama bandwagon, hook, line, and sinker. Now, I know that Tavis can come off sometimes as the "king of black folk" and I personally don't agree with Tavis on several key issues. And I know it is none of my business, but I am a little concerned that he is not married yet. But I digress. However, with all that aside, "America cannot be America" if a black person cannot disagree with another black person without being kicked out of the "Black America Club". 
"Peter said to Jesus, 'If it is You, Lord, tell me to come to You on the water.' Jesus said, 'Come!' Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus.'" Matthew 14:28-29 (New Life Bible) 
If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you've learned that introducing your friends to Jesus is no ordinary task. We can't force anyone to accept forgiveness and freedom from sin. Salvation is a supernatural work of God; nobody can make it happen. Recognizing this critical truth positively impacts our effectiveness in bringing others into a personal relationship with Christ. 
Ever since I was a boy, I was driven to serve my country. As a 10-year-old at the outbreak of World War II, I could only dream that one day I could put on a uniform and fight the enemy. But I did what I could. I organized a neighborhood drive to collect scrap metal for the war effort. Before I had reached 40 years of age, I had served as a captain in the Marines and as special counsel to President Nixon. 
I'm like many other preachers. I like to preach long messages! You'll often see staff members cringe when I start going long. They know a long sermon could mean backed up parking lots as one service lets out and another one starts. 
Kenneth Ulmer relates a story about a criminology course he took in college. He says that he "cut that class every which way but loose." But when he heard about an assignment to write a research paper, he poured himself into the project, hoping he could compensate for his frequent absences. 
Recently I returned from a landmark meeting in Washington, D.C.,
where more than 800 professionals from more than 80 countries had
gathered to discuss biblical solutions to the devastation of HIV/AIDS.
This is the first time there has been this type of international
gathering to strengthen and equip Christian ministries in their
response to this deadly disease. |
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