Jeremiah 3:15-17 - The blog of pastor.ctj

A 2013 update to my original 2008 blogpost ... So, what exactly is this ‘Holiday’ known as Kwanzaa? This post seeks to uncover/reveal that, and take a look  at it in light of the scripture Who is its founder? Who made it up? Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett on July 14, 1941) is the creator of Kwanzaa. In the late 1960’s he started and led an organization (a black nationalist cult) known as the ‘United Slaves’. Interestingly, as Kwanzaa caught on, Mr. Karenga was sitting in a California prison for torturing two black women who were members of the United Slaves. Originally known as Ron N. Everett, he went by (and eventually legally took on)  the name Karenga and in the 60's took upon himself the title "maulana," which means "master teacher" in Swahili. He was born on a poultry farm in Maryland, the fourteenth child of a Baptist minister. Mr. Karenga was convicted of two counts of felonious assault and one count of false im...

 I was asked by a sister why I am biased towards so-called 'Calvinism': I grew up in the United Methodist Church, stayed there until I was 23 and then spent 17 years in a non-denominational quasi-charismatic Evangelical church. I then wandered a bit before settling in at what was at the beginning (at least in name) a teen pregnancy program. It was there that I received the remainder of my pre-Pastoral preparatory training. A dear friend & brother in Christ introduced me to Reformed Theology,  a.k.a. the Doctrines of Grace,  a.k.a. Calvinism in 2007, shortly before we were to start the Fellowship. It completely renovated my thinking, changed my view of God to the Biblical one and in the process radically changed my life. Hence my bias. ... In retrospect I was ready then, ripe as it were for the introduction to Reformed Theology, because having lived through the death of my Son in 2001, and the resultant pain and struggle with my faith and practice, I had foun...

In His seminal work: 'On being Black and Reformed' ,  Anthony Carter (Pastor of East Point Church in East Point Ga.) d iscusses the compatibility of African-American people and Reformed Theology. In one chapter he makes the case, noting that African-American theology, like Reformed Theology, is Experiential, Historical and Biblical. This got me thinking about what issues I have with 'church today' and I saw it clearly. We (so-called Black Christians) have placed too much weight on the wrong end of the stick. What I mean is that we (in the so-called Black Church)  have by and large, given supremacy to our experiences and culture, and we mistakenly interpret the Bible through this lens. (While this is true of many believers of different ethnicities, I am dealing specifically with the 'black church' at the moment) It is, in my estimation, a kind of culturo-experiential eisegesis which does a disservice to our flocks, ...

Disclaimer: The following story is an actual event, as all of the vignettes in the 'Clubdate Singer Speaks' series are. For 8 years, I was a member of one of the top Orchestras in the nation. Though it was an enjoyable time, it was also at times, quite painful. I took to writing initially to assuage my distress, and this is one of those times when the pen (or keyboard) proved to be a healing tool. I have considered publishing this series, and would appreciate your thoughts... "The Conflict” - Early 2004 (Please note the date of this writing. Much has changed since, but it reflects the state of mind I was in at that time) Though this series of essays is autobiographical, I and my situation are by no means unique... Saturday night : I stand behind the microphone, in the crowded, dimly lit club, singing songs that make your body move. I am the lead singer. Sunday Morning : I stand behind the microphone in the crowded, brightly lit church, singing songs tha...

Would you stay in a church that preached the following? 12/2005 In a sermon, Pastor xxx declares that the miracle of the 2 fish and 5 loaves was not that the same fish and loaves fed thousands, unless as he puts it, it was two whales, and loaves made from an entire field of wheat. He states that the miracle was that by having the people sit in groups, Jesus created community, and the communities shared what they had. THAT he says, was the miracle. I do not agree. 6/24/07 Pastor xxx 's, sermon implies the approval/acceptance/condoning of homosexuality. Not only the person, but the lifestyle, and uses Acts 11 to couch the debate over homosexuality as equal to the circumcision debate xxx says that the early church members would be surprised at the church’s ‘gentile’ predominance, implying that in years to come homosexuality will be so much a part of the normal life of the church that we who are in opposition now will be surprised. Sermon is preached on the same day as the gay parade (...

I posted these videos months ago, and believe that in the light of this mess, Health Care Bill Directs HHS Secretary to Develop 'Standards for Measuring Gender'-As Opposed to 'Male' and 'Female' (read it here) ... they warrant posting again... From the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission : http://www.christianadc.org/resources Seven reasons why Barack Obama is not a Christian ... There is a spiritual emergency in America. Barack Obama is in the process of trying to recreate the Christian faith in his own, very liberal and unorthodox image. Built on a foundation of radical Black Liberation Theology, theological liberalism and post-modernism, Obama is undermining historic, biblical Christianity while claiming his is a Christian. In the process, he is defaming the Christian faith. By declaring he is a Christian, yet denying Christianity's most essential truths and traditional morality, Obama is associating Christ with some of the most wicked practices imaginab...

"The average citizen in a democracy is like a deaf spectator sitting in the back row of a sporting event: He does not know what is happening, why it is happening, what ought to happen; he lives in a world that he cannot see, does not understand, and is unable to direct." - Walter Lippmann, pundit/public philosopher - 1924 Everyone knows by now, that I did not support this candidate during his historic campaign. I do not support him during his historic Presidency either. This is because my allegiance is first to the Cross of Christ, before my ethnicity, before my political identification, and all the rest of the myriad demographic identifiers we manufacture as a society. One of the problems that Pres. Obama faces now is trying to make good on the various and sundry, and sometimes opposing campaign promises that he made is that he made promises to the gay community and now the bill is come due. While we're on the subject of homosexuality... In light of the whole 'Gay p...

Bad fruit from a corrupted vine Our latest example of faulty (non-existent) exegesis comes from Creflo Dollar, who slaughters the scripture to make a poor point... If you, a Christian, have sex with another believer, you're having sex with Jesus... While there are many issues with this particular clip, I would like to direct you to another outgrowth on this same infected vine: The Rev. Dr. Robert E. Goss, senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC)’s “Church of the Valley” in North Hollywood, CA. In his 2002 book, Queering Christ, the pastor proudly recounts how he masturbates with Christ, imagining himself having homosexual sex with Christ. ”My technique of meditative prayer was to envision Christ with me and experience him as a lover. Scott Haleman, Betty Dodson, and Joe Kramer argue that masturbation can be spiritual and can become a form of transcendental meditation. Masturbation can harness fantasies and sexual energy. When prolonged, it can stimulate and ex...

This needs no explanation... Pray, people. Pray

Ezekiel 34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? In obedience to the above quoted verse, we now continue the 'Wolf of the Month' award This monthly award will be given out to the preachers who forget the following: Zech 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. This month's honoree is not a wolf, but a prophetic video. ' Pimps In The Pulpit Directed By Regina Bennett' Jeremiah 23:1-4 1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, ...

Ezekiel 34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? In obedience to the above quoted verse, we commence the 'Wolf of the Month' award This monthly award will be given out to the preachers who forget the following: Zech 11:17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. Our first honoree is 'Bishop'Clarence McClendon Jeremiah 23:1-4 1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you fo...

I led worship at the United Methodist Church (UMC) as usual today, and I enjoyed the service quite a bit, but I was disturbed to see a Kwanzaa table complete with Kinorah, set up on the altar area of the church. Apparently this has been the custom at the UMC for a number of years. I am not sure if I just missed it previously, or was just oblivious to it. In either case, I was prompted to do a little research to put forth to the leadership at the UMC  regarding this unacceptable situation. I would like you to please take a few minutes to read the information that follows, and after you have read it, ask yourself whether this 'holiday' should be celebrated in the house of, or by the people of the Living God. I have gathered some information for you, with citations underneath from the websites that I got it from. Hopefully you will do your due diligence and research as well. Who is its founder? Who made it up? It seems the founder of Kwanzaa, at the same time folk were glorify...

Let Jasper Williams teach you how...

For the first time ever, NY Times Bestselling Author Zane and Pastor Jamal Harrison-Bryant join forces to lecture and enlighten on the topic, "How to Love a Black Man-Biblically". Now Zane is the New York Times Bestselling Author of several titles like: Addicted, The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth, Skyscraper, Nervous, Gettin’ Buck Wild: The Sex Chronicles 2, The Sisters of APF, Shame on it All, and The Heat Seekers. So this woman, the so-called ‘queen of erotica’, and a ‘Pastor’, are going to teach God’s people how to Love a Black Man-Biblically Biblically???? Jamal Bryant? ‘Mr. I am a pastor who has several children with several women including a teenage parishioner while married’??? Zane? Biblical?? Lord Have Mercy! This has all the ingredients of a first class course in filth and debauchery, with some scripture twisting thrown in… This is the equivalent of James Dobson doing a marriage enrichment seminar with Hugh Hefner. Mind you, this ‘event’ is being held in Past...