Dr. Renita Weems Encourages Women to Keep the Dream Alive

By: Angela Lee Price

Renown preacher, theologian, and author, Rev. Dr. Renita Weems was the keynote speaker at the National Council of Negro Women, Louisville Section's Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Breakfast on January 13th at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville. She asked are you "Making A Living Or Building A Legacy?" No doubt, women all over the black community will be joining their churches' Mother Boards after hearing her compelling plea to pass on our rich history and heritage to the youth, particularly young women.

"We get up to make a living, but we hardly think about making a legacy," she opened. "Babies raising babies, that's not wisdom. Everybody wants to stay young, but nobody wants to be on the Mother Board....There is knowledge, wisdom, insight that you are not passing down...knowledge about waiting on God," she told NCNW breakfast attendees. Speaking about young women wearing inappriopriate attire, "hoochie mama" dresses - let's keep it real, Dr. Weems said, "Nobody wants to take authority. Nobody wants to tell them to 'hietch it down'....It is your turn to take the reigns," she told the audience of mostly women, city officials, preachers, and dignitaries. "Reach back for those girls in your church and get on the Mother Board."

Dr. Weems closed the address to a standing ovation. Referring to the unique strength of defiant, unified womenhood she repeated, "When you touch the women you have struck a rock, you have dislodged a boulder, and the devil is going to get crushed!"

As the articles on her website will demonstrate, there is

something within Rev. Dr. Renita Weems that makes her an exceptionally profound preacher, bible expositor, and woman of God.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves

Now that you have read this article, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish."

Blinggg, Blinggg, Creflo's Calling!

Okay, I've been holding back. Someone on my distribution sent me pictures a couple of months ago of Creflo's crib--oh, my bad, Creflo's mansion. I held onto the pictures because I felt there were more important things to write about. Alas, the pictures have found their place on the blog! Won't this make Creflo happy, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

In order to really appreciate this post, watch Art Franklin's story on Creflo Dollar in my January 15th post It's All About the Dollar, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. In a recent Fox5 Atlanta news report, Preaching Prosperity, Dollar states that God wants His people to be rich. When asked if Jesus had money. Dollar answered Jesus had a treasurer, and since he had a treasurer, he had to have money. What logic! And the Jesus said, "Foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Luke 9:58 (NIV). If Creflo had his way, Jesus would be chillin' at his crib right about now, kicked back in his indoor pool (It's heated, no doubt). When you watch the Fox5 Atlanta news story, Creflo will gleefully tell you that his popular abode lists for $3 million dollar$.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!Now that you have read this article, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish."

Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool

By: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

An excerpt from the book, A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Luke 12:16-20

I want to share with you a dramatic little story from the gospel as recorded by Saint Luke. It is a story of a man who by all standards (Yes, Speak doc, speak) of measurement would be considered a highly successful man. (Yes) And yet Jesus called him a fool. (Yes) If you will read that parable, you will discover that the central character in the drama is a certain rich man. (Yes) This man was so rich that his farm yielded tremendous crops. (Yes) In fact, the crops were so great that he didn't know what to do. It occurred to him that he had only one alternative and that was to build some new and bigger barns so he could store all of his crops. (Yes) And then as he thought about this, he said, "Then I'm going to do something after I build my new and bigger barns." He said, "I'm going to store my goods and my fruit there, and then I'm going to say to my soul, 'Soul, thou hast much goods, laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.'" (Yes) That brother thought that was the end of life. (All right)

But the parable doesn't end with that man making his statement. (My Lord) It ends by saying that God said to him, (Yes) "Thou fool (Yes) Not next year, not next week, not tomorrow, but this night, (Yes) thy sould is required of the." (Yes)

And so it was at the height of his prosperity he died. Look at that parable. (Yes) Think about it. (Yes) Think of this man: If he lived in Chicago today, he would be considered "a big shot." (My Lord) And he would abound with all of the social prestiage and all of the community influence that could be afforded. (Yes) Most people would look up to him because he would have that something called money. (Yes) And yet a Galilean peasant had the audacity to call that man a fool....

I'd like for you to look at this parable with me and try to decipher the real reason that Jesus called his man a fool.

Number one, Jesus called this man a fool because he allowed the means by which he lived to outdistance the ends for which he lived....The house we live in-that's a part of the means by which we live. The car we drive, the clothes we wear, the money that we are able to accumulate-in short, the physical stuff that's necessary for us to exit. (My Lord) Now the problem is that we must always keep a line of demarcation between the two. (My Lord) This man was a fool because he didn't do that....

Now number two, this man was a fool because he failed to realize his dependence on others. (Yes) Now if you read that parable in the book of Luke, you will discover that this man utters about sixty words. And do you know in sixty words he said "I" and "my" more than fifteen times? (My Lord) This man was a fool because he said "I" and "my" so much until he lost the capacity to say "we" and "our." (My Lord) He failed to realize that he couldn't do anything by himself. This man talked like he could build the barns by himself, like he could till the soil by himself. And he failed to realize that wealth is always a result of commonwealth....

Finally, this man was a fool because he failed to realize his dependence on God. (Yeah) Do you know that man talked like he regulated the seasons? That man talked like he gave the rain to grapple with the fertility of the soil. (Yes) That man talked like he provided the dew. He was a fool because he ened up acting like he was the Creator, (Yes) instead of a creature....

Don't be a fool. Recognize your dependence on God. (Yes, sir) As the days become dark and the nights become dreary, realize that there is a God who rules above.

And so I'm not worried about tomorrow. I get weary every now and then. The future looks difficult and dim, but I'm not worried about it ultimately because I have faith in God. Centruries ago Jeremiah raised a question, "Is there a balm in Gilead" Is there no physician there?" He raised it because he saw the good people sufferin so often and the evil people prospering. (Yes, sir) Centuries later our slave forparents came along. (Yes, sir) And they too saw the injustices of life, and had nothing to look forward to morning after morning but the rawhide whip of the overseer, long rows of cotton in the sizzling heat. But they did an amazing thing. They looked back across the centuries and they took Jeremiah's question mark and straigntened it into an excamation point. And they could sing, "There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. (Yes) There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul." And there is another stanza that I like so well: Sometimes (Yeah) I feel discouraged." (Yes)

And I don't mind telling you this morning that sometimes I feel discouraged. (All right) I felt discouraged in Chicago. As I moved through Mississippi and Georgia and Alabama, I feel discouraged. (Yes, sir) Living everyday under the threat of death, I feel discouraged sometimes. [applause] Yes, sometimes I feel discouraged and feel my work's in vain. But then the Holy Spirit (Yes) revives my soul again. "There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul." God bless you. [applause]

Delivered at Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago, IL on August 27, 1967.

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Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

It's All About the Dollar, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'!

By: Min. Angela Lee Price
It is so fitting that as we remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that we hear from the current pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, 36, who now pastors the historic 2,200-member Ebenezer Baptist Church, the former church of Coretta Scott King, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an associate minister, and his father a pastor, speaks out against mega church prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar in this six-minute Fox5 Atlanta news report on Dollar entitled Preaching Prosperity posted on YouTube.com on November 16, 2006. Warnock says that the prosperity gospel is "the gospel of the 'bling bling' in which the preachers and the rappers are saying virtually the same thing, 'get rich or die tryin'.'"

Creflo Dollar has, in addition to his $80 million dollar-a-year ministry, a private jet, several expensive cars including a Rolls-Royce, a $2 million dollar apartment in New York and this $3 million dollar estate in Georgia with an indoor swimming pool and tennis court.

Rev. Al Sharpton chimes in on Dollar, too, in this report, "To try to distort Jesus to try to justify your new jet plane or your new Rolls-Royce to me is an abomination."

Click on the image of Rev. Raphael Warnock above to view Art Franklin's report Preaching Prosperity, then post your comments in the comment section below.

To read more on Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, the newly installed pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, click on this link to article, Ebenezer’s New Pastor Says He’ll Resurrect Activist Spirit of Church Under MLK:
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/warnock629

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Dr. King Holiday Tribute - I AM Not Havin' It!

Minister Angela Lee Price

"Let just roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" Amos 5:24 (KJV). (Other scripture references NLT.)

Why do bad things happen to good people? It is an age-old question, one that theologians have debated throughout church history. I have three reasons:

Pretense: Those “good” people really are not so good. Injustice: The good are being punished and the bad rewarded. Testing: Our loyalty to God is being tested.

Let me give you my answer right up front. Bad things are happening to good people because a good thing is happening to bad people - I AM is not havin' it!

If ever you’ve been falsely accused of something you didn’t do, charged for crimes you didn’t commit. If ever you’ve been treated differently because of the color of your skin, treated differently because of the part of town you live in. And it’s happened not once, not twice, but again and again. If ever you’ve been demoted when you should have been promoted, unjustly fired, let go, downsized, denied unemployment benefits. If ever you’ve lost a love one to or through some senseless crime, and it’s happened not once, not twice, but time after time. If ever you’ve been ostracized, criticized for your Christian beliefs, then you know that pain is unreal and sometimes there just is no relief!

Look around you. There is too much hatred and bitterness out there. How did it get that way – too much pain, agony, grief, despair, depression I say. It’s dark in America, dark in Louisville - too many people escaping through sex, violence, drugs, and the pill! We need to reclaim our heritage with dignity and say it loud – “I am black! I am proud!” Above all, the whole world has to know I AM not havin' it no more! Without justice there is no truth. Without justice there can be no peace.

It’s a beautiful thing to see I AM not havin' it. I’m talking about the Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless One, the Mighty Judge of heaven and hell, the Majestic I AM, the Lover of our souls. It’s a beautiful thing to see I AM when He’s sore, handling His business, settling the score. It’s a beautiful thing to see I AM not havin' this mess anymore. You see, it’s happened before. I AM not havin' it no more!

I AM became angry in the book of Amos. He had Amos pronounce judgment on Judah, Israel as well as on Israel’s neighbors, the people of Damascus Syria, the Philistines in Gaza, the people of Tyre, Edom, Ammom and Moab. Why? They had all sinned again and again. I AM had had enough. I AM convicted and condemned them. He sent Amos two years ahead of time to serve notice - guilty as charged! The sentence death by natural disaster, an earthquake.

What infuriated I AM so? What caused Him to become angry, particularly with the people of Israel? They were caught up in their prosperity. They were oppressing the poor, worshipping idols, dabbling in the occult and other false religions. We’re caught up in all that mess today. Exactly, what did I AM say?

God said in chapter 3:9, “My people have forgotten what it means to do right. Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence.” In chapter 6:1 He said, “How terrible it will be for you who lounge in luxury and think you are secure in Jerusalem and Samaria. You are famous and popular in Israel, you to whom the people go for help.” He called them out, the leaders. The leaders had gotten caught up in their prosperity, their summer homes and their winter homes, fine jewelry, fancy cars, their Rolls-Royces, chauffeured limousines, their expensive minks and furs. They had gotten “stuck on self,” “stuck on stupid,” the men blinded by power and "bling bling,” the women blinded by power and the “ding-a-ling.”

The people of Amos’ day were delusional, drunk with military power. God warned them about it before through Joel, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah. They were all warned, Israel and her enemies. In Amos, the enemies of Israel were being convicted for persecution of God’s people. Edom - her sin was an unmerciful, unwearied, pursuit of the people of God. The Edomites were cowards. They would wait until another enemy attackedJudah and Israel and then they would jump in. They were the least courageous. The least courageous are often the cruelest people.

The Israelites - God gave it to them, too, for being “punch drunk” with military power and might. We read in chapter 6 beginning at verse 12: “Can horses gallop over rocks? Can oxen be used to plow rocks? Stupid even to ask – but that’s how stupid you are when you turn justice into poison and make bitter the sweet fruit of righteousness. And just as stupid is this bragging about your conquest of Lo-debar (nothing). You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim (horns) by our own strength and power?” Don’t they sound like a country you know today, always hollering “We’re big and we’re bad and that’s a fact, we ain’t never scared, never scared of Sadam, Iraq!”

Have you ever been accused of things you didn't do? In Amos, the guilty were being freed for crimes they had committed. This happened not once or twice, but again and again. The innocent were experiencing unjust punishment, torture for no good reason, for things they had not done. They kept getting pulled over by the police for driving while being black. God’s so-called people had become cold, cruel. They had become maniacal, manipulative, mean, despicable and diabolical.

The people of Judah and Israel were committing idolatry, dabbling in the occult and astrology. In chapter 5:25 “God said, “ Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel? No, your real interest was in your pagan gods – Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god - the images you yourselves made.” I AM not only called out their sins, He named names – Sakkuth and Kaiwan.

I pray for our preachers everywhere. We are doing what Judah and Israel were doing, committing idolatry, dabbling in the occult, astrology, and worshipping God any kind of way. We have witches, and warlocks, and wizards posing as pastors, preachers, and teachers. I AM didn’t have it then. I AM not having it now! Wake up! The wolves are eating the sheep!

Not only were the Israelites worshipping idols, they were offering strange fire, bringing offerings to God any kind of way when God had given them express instructions on how to do so. Then, they were bragging about it and about how they were such great tithers. Is this not going on today?

It’s dark outside and it’s partly our own fault. We are not standing for truth and justice like we’ve been taught Instead, Christians are drunk and out of their mind, stumbling, staggering, and falling dead in the streets. We keep looking for the next miracle with our name on it, asking God to bless us indeed. He won’t bless you if you don’t care to read. We need to His Word and about the works that He’s already done. We were taught a long time ago to name and claim, yes – name and claim our history, our heritage, this is our fame! Name and claim Martin, Marcus, Malcolm, DuBois and Booker T., too; claim Harriet, Sojourner, Ella and Fannie Lou; claim Tubman, please, so that we can get off this boat. It’s got too many holes and it can’t stay afloat!

We have never been in so many trying situations, but we have God our side, love and peace in our hearts, and I AM as our God. Amos tells us that the foundation of truth rest on justice, with privilege comes responsibilities and failure to live up to responsibilities brings judgment. Amos tells us God calls whom He chooses to the ministry. Amos tells us to rest assured. I AM did not have it then. I AM not havin' it now. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream! Amen.

In memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King

Remember, it is not Mohmmad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!

Sermon Excerpt: To Tell the Truth: Will the Real Deal Holy "Fill" Please Stand Up?!

By: Minister Angela Lee Price

"Anyone who teaches anything different is both conc eited and ignorant. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, fighting, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they don't tell the truth. To them religion is just a way to get rich. 1 Tim. 6:4-5" (NLT)

Back in the day, there was a game show on television called “To Tell the Truth.” The show consisted of a host whose job it was to introduce the noteworthy individual appearing on the show, contestants, usually three, each claiming to be that particular person, and panelists whose job it was to ask the questions of the contestants and listen carefully to their responses in order to determine who was telling the truth. Two of the contestants were imposters and one was “the real deal.”

The imposters’ jobs were to be as convincing as possible in order to increase the amount of money to be divided among the contestants at the end of the show by way of the panelists voting in error. You may remember the audience sitting spellbound in anticipation because each person knew their contestant would be the one rising at the end of the show when the announcer said that famous last line, “Will the real so and so please stand up!” Today, it might be said 21st century style, ”Will the ‘real deal’ please stand up!”

That was television back in the day. It seemed to be a simpler time. It was a time of “The Mod Squad,” “The Jeffersons,” “Room 222,” and it was a time of “To Tell the Truth.”Today’s high-speed electronic age has provided us with so much from which to choose. Television and the Internet have given the clergy an electronic global platform from which to amass huge global audiences. We have an abundance of Christian programming, ranging from terrible to excellent.

In the book Myths That Mire the Ministry by Rev. Dr. Harold A Carter, I have learned that a minister true to the call of God will be diligent and careful to deliver a balanced view of Jesus as suffering Servant and triumphant King. However, as Dr. Carter explains, many ministers have “jumped down from their steeples” by way of “prayer cloths, providing illicit numbers for lotteries and passing out blessings for material gain.”

A preponderance of television preachers on Christian networks preach a gospel of health, wealth and prosperity. Added to these “faith” preachers are those purveyors of signs, wonders and miracles. Some with the largest audiences use cheap mesmerist tricks, wheelchair props and smoke and mirrors to gain followings in the United States and abroad, particularly in Africa. It’s enough to make you want to holla, get up out of your seat and shout back, ”Will the real deal Holy ‘Fill’ please stand up?!”

This is the age of relativism and post modernism. The “believe-what-you-want-to-believe” philosophy and attitude has gained significant ground in society. Objective truth is no longer the standard. Common occurrences on television are talk show hosts such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey who embrace new age believers one day and Jesus believers the next. It would appear that the mantra of Rodney King of “us all just getting along” has taken root in a perverse kind of way.

Increasingly orthodox Christians are joining with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others of non-Christian beliefs in religious ceremonies to worship God under a new kind of unity that disregards doctrine and truth. All the while, everyone is shouting that their Jesus, the cosmic Jesus, the only-a-prophet Jesus, the born-again-in-hell Jesus, is the true Jesus. Dr. Forrest Harris, a guest speaker the St. Stephen Church 76th Anniversary said, “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, is it a duck?!” It’s enough to make you want to holla, get up out of your seat and shout back, “Will the real deal Holy ‘Fill’ please stand up?!”

In the book of 1st Timothy (NLT), Paul gives encouragement and instruction to the young, preacher, Timothy who is pastoring the church at Ephesus. Paul admonishes Timothy to beware of false teachers, to stop those teaching wrong doctrine, and he tells him what constitutes true wealth.In 1st Timothy 6:4-5, we learn that false teachers are filled with pride and ignorance. They have an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. They always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt and they don’t tell the truth. To them religion is just a way to get rich.

In 1st Timothy 6:11-14, we learn that real teachers are filled with the fruit of the Spirit. They run from evil things, and they pursue godly living. They fight the good fight for what they believe. They obey God’s commands with all purity, and they avoid godless, foolish discussions with those that oppose them with their so-called knowledge.

The definition of wealth is found in lst Timothy 6:6. The Bible teaches that wealth is not the abundance of things, cash, cars and clothes, nor is it the absence of sickness, physical impairment, and suffering. True religion with contentment is wealth.

Just because some athletes, actors and hip hop celebrities support certain high-profile mega-church pastors and faith healers doesn’t necessarily mean those preachers are the “real deal.” Heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield goes by the nickname “The Real Deal.” But did “The Real Deal” chose the real Holy “Fill?” Holyfield dislocated his shoulder in a fight against opponent Michael Moorer in April, 1994. He was diagnosed with a heart condition at the hospital. On December 27, 2003, Dateline NBC aired an expose on Bennie Hinn. Evander Holyfield was slain in the spirit and reported cured of his heart ailment. Michael Jordan owned and played for the Washington Wizards, but that didn’t make the Washington Wizards a winning team.

Bennie Hinn has been the subject of many documentaries calling his miracles and lavish and unethical spending into question. A second Dateline NBC expose’ entitled The Preacher’s Life aired on NBC on March 6, 2005. It featured interviews with family members of people supposedly healed at Hinn’s crusades. The family members reported that their loved ones either still had the same diseases they were supposedly cured of or had later died from those same illnesses.

A prophet true to the call of God will be diligent and careful to deliver a balanced view of Jesus as suffering Servant and triumphant King. Are the preachers you like to watch on television or listen to on the radio doing that, or are they constantly preaching health, wealth and prosperity, signs, wonders and miracles? At least once, you need to ask, “Are you the ‘real deal,’ do you tell the truth?” Will the Real Deal Holy "Fill" please stand up?!

From: Jesus Saves Ministries Newsletter - November, 2005
Note: This sermon is an updated version of a previous message to Means Avenue Baptist Church, Hopkinsville, Kentucky on November 24, 2002, Rev. Enoch David Nyakoon, Pastor; and to House of Prayer Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky on May 25, 2005, Rev. Stephan E. Kirby, Sr., Pastor.

Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!