Win Standing Room Only Tickets to Official Dedication of MLK Memorial

Jesus Saves Ministries will be giving away a limited number of tickets to the Official Dedication of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on Sunday, August 28th in Washington, D.C.. If you are a member of the Jesus Saves Social Network and are interested in attending this historic event, e-mail Jesus Saves Ministries founder, Min. Angela Lee Price.  An official invitation will be sent to your e-mail address to reserve your tickets online. A photo ID will be required to obtain tickets. 

Tickets can ONLY BE RESERVED ONLINE through the Dedicatethedream.org process. Tickets allow for an up-close viewing of the dedication from a reserved Standing Room Only section. Tickets DO NOT include transportation and lodging to Washingtion, D.C. The Official Dedication of the National Memorial is on Sunday, August 28th beginning at 11:00 AM, the anniversary of the August 28th, 1963 March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. King's historic I Have A Dream speech. 

Unfortunately, Standing Room Only tickets are available only to residents OUTSIDE the Louisville, Kentucky metro area. 

Dedicate The Dream Schedule of Events for Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication


Click here join the Jesus Saves Social Network and become eligible to win tickets.


In The News:  Black Catholics Get Sneak Preview of MLK Memorial

Off the Agenda: Social Media Is Not Optional!

By: Min. Angela Lee Price

Here is an article that says what I have been saying for six years now, social media is not optional if the church intends to reach youth and young adults. We must be willing to meet them where they hang out, and that is on the internet. While they go to the internet for one reason, the church must go for another and that is to share the Gospel. After all, the church is called to go into all the world, teach, baptize, and teach (Matthew 28:19 &20). Well, now that world has to include cyberspace.

While social media evangelism is not optional, I believe though that "face time" with real human beings is not optional either. I have said so in the Saving S.O.U.L.S. group in the post entitled, "Where Is A Good Streetwalker When You Need One?" The church is not on her j-o-b. Non-believers are out there outreaching believers with activities, walks, and runs that don't have anything to do with God.

To be critical of social media, it is too isolating. It is easy to sit behind a computer screen and talk a good game. It is much harder to look someone on the eye ball and mean it. The lost and backslidden, or the "unchurched" and "dechurched" as we call them these days, come with baggage, varying personalities and real issues, addictions, mental and physical illnesses, and the like. Many of us don't have time to deal with that. Blogging, tweeting, and facebooking leaves too many more of us with sore backs and stiff joints from hours and hours of immobility and little exercise.

But with all of its drawbacks, social media is still not optional if the church really intends to reach today's youth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In far too many churches there is no crying, no giggling, no laughter, and no pitter patter of little feet. There is no nursery, nor children's and youth Sunday school for that matter. The church needs to get "linked in" or she's going to get left out.

Off the Agenda: Social Media Is Not Optional!

Bishop Eddie Long Had Fifth Accuser in Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit | Centino Kemp

This is what is trending today on Twitter out of Atlanta.  Wow!  That's all I can say.  The plot thickens.  I am sure Centino is going to get his 15 minutes of fame out of all this.  But what are Christians going to get, and what is the Black Church getting?  No matter what opinions you may have about Bishop Eddie Long and his prosperity message, everybody in the Black Church is adversely affected when something like this has so many ugly twists and turns. 

Bishop Eddie Long Had Fifth Accuser in Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit Centino Kemp

Bishop Eddie Long Had Fifth Accuser in Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit: MyFoxATLANTA.com

St. Stephen New Members On God's Team, Win With Jesus!

By:  Min. Angela Lee Price

When Jesus asked Matthew, the tax collector to follow Him, Matthew wanted everyone to know he had made his connection with God. He invited friends and guests and hosted a party at his home celebrating his new life in Christ (Matthew 5:27-29 and 2 Corinthian 5:17).

On July 23rd &; 24th, the St. Stephen Church Member Services Ministry hosted a Matthew Party, a "Connection Celebration Weekend" for new members, their families and guests. Connection Celebration recognized, during and after worship services, all new members who have connected with God and St. Stephen since June of 2010. The theme was "I'm a Member of God's Team!" New members enjoyed light refreshments, received "God's Team" fun favors, entered drawings to win gifts, and signed up for new members' and Bible Fellowship classes and ministries at receptions held at the Louisville and Southern Indiana campuses and Dosker Manor location after worship services.

Winning with Christ and sportin' a "I Love My Church" t-shirt, new member Maurice Thomas holds the gift he won at the celebration, bookends shaped like a football that read "Christ Is Life." Maurice is a member of the Building In Christ adult bible fellowship class. He got connected to the Men's Ministry and Mighty Men's Choir shortly after joining in 2010. Also, he is a member of the Prayer Ministry.

New members Jenelle Jackson and her son Demetrius Yarbrough are on the winning team in more ways than one, each winning gifts in random drawings. Demetrius shows off his children's gift basket.

"We want everyone to know what great things God is doing in the lives of our new members and in the life of our church," stated Member Services Director Min. Angela Lee Price. "St. Stephen is on "the grow!" We had close to 600 new members joined St. Stephen Church in 2010, and so far this year, approximately 300 new members have united with us.



New member Deonta Simpson (in black) with his mother Angela Simpson-Reed (in green) and family members. Deonta participated in worship by recognizing all new members during the Welcome on the Louisville campus.

"Connection Celebration helps our new members feel welcomed and provides another opportunity for ministry leaders and members to meet them. It provides an opportunity, too for them to get connected to Bible fellowships, small groups and ministries," Min. Price stated.

New members were encouraged to bring families and friends. Approximately 45 guests attended the Connection receptions over the weekend. Six guests connected with St. Stephen Church, four at the reception after the 9:40 a.m. worship service. Connection Celebration will be held again in November.




Member Services Director Min. Angela Lee Price with new members Nyvelle Washington, and Gail Forbes. Gail is also the Director of Youth & College Age Ministries.

Those Preachin' Women Conference Salutes First Ladies

By: Min. Angela Lee Price





From left to right: Workshop presenter Rev. Barbara Woods-Washington (Nashville, TN), Mistress of Ceremonies Min. Angela Lee Price (Louisville, KY), Host Pastor and Convener Rev. Kathy Goodwin (Louisville, KY), and Guest Speaker Rev. Cassandra Gray (Shelbyville, KY).

  

(Louisville, KY)  The four-day Those Preachin' Women Conference in Louisville concluded on Saturday, July 16th with a Celebration of The First Lady Luncheon at Coke Memorial United Methodist Church. Co-Pastor and First Lady, Rev. Cassandra Gray, New Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Shelbyville, Kentucky was the guest speaker. St. Stephen Church Associate Minister and Jesus Saves Ministries Founder, Min. Angela Lee Price was mistress of ceremonies.

Conference Convener, host pastor Rev. Kathy Goodwin stated that she too was a first lady when she started in ministry. She believed then that all first ladies were supposed to do was sit on the first row and wear nice hats, clothes, and shoes. She quickly realized that first ladies were often lonely in the since that there were things that happened in ministry that they couldn't discuss with members of the congregation. First ladies are often overlooked for the significant roles they play in serving God along side their husbands in ministry, she stated.

Greencastle Baptist Church, Quinn Chapel AME Church, House of Faith Christian Church, and Right Now Harvest Church were four of several churches represented with their first ladies in attendance. In all, eight first ladies shared insights on their experiences beside their husbands who pastor churches in Kentucky. Several first ladies were ministers who served in roles such as assistant pastor and co-pastor.  Some first ladies expressed a calling to intercessory prayer for their families and congregation.  At least one enjoyed ministering in song, while another stated she enjoyed teaching Sunday school.   Another first lady expressed a call to making members, especially new members feel welcomed in the church. The ladies received gifts from KOG Ministry and Jesus Saves Ministries throughout the luncheon in random drawings.

Guest speaker Rev. Cassandra Gray spoke from Habakkuk 3:16-19 and Matthew 11:12-15 in the message entitled, I Am Not a Cracked Pot. "Ailment, and situations make us feel like we are under such pressure and we can't go on," she stated. Habakkuk goes from questioning God in chapter one to saying yet I will wait patiently on the Lord in chapter three. Gray stated, "We need to say when we can't see it, I will wait on the Lord." We lose heart in the process. The world would have you think you have lost your mind. "The waiting is not about God, it is about us," she stated.

The theme of the conference was Prayer and Praise Under Pressure.  Preachin' women from various Louisville-area churches brought the prayer, praise and the preached Word nightly July 13th - 15th.

St.Stephen Church Hosts Connection Celebration Weekend

When Jesus asked Levi, (Matthew) the tax collector to follow Him, Levi wanted everyone to know he had made his connection with God. He invited friends and guests and hosted a party at his home celebrating his new life in Christ (Matthew 5:27-29 and 2 Corinthian 5:17).

Saturday and Sunday, July 23rd & 24th is Connection Celebration Weekend at St. Stephen Church. We want everyone to know what great things God is doing in the lives of our new members. We will be celebrating during and after worship services with all new members who have connected with God and St. Stephen Church since July 2010.

Immediately following each worship service, a reception will be held in the Family Life Center gym for our new members, their families and guests. Join us July 23rd & 24th as we celebrate our new members and their new life in Christ!

For additional information, contact Member Services Director, Min. Angela Lee Price at aprice@ssclive.org, or call 502-583-6798, Ext. 6804.

Worship Services:
Saturdays, 6:00 PM
Sundays, 8:00 AM, 9:40 AM, 10:45 AM (Southern IN), 11:15 AM (Dosker Manor), & 11:30 AM

Locations:
1018 South 15th Street, Louisville
2701 Veterans Parkway, Jeffersonville, IN

 

Black Baptists should engage changing culture, says conference workshop | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

By: Min. Angela Lee Price

Pastor Michael Evans speaks about how churches can respond to change during the African American Fellowship Convention at the civic center in Lubbock, Texas, Wednesday, July 6, 2011. (Miranda Grubbs/ Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

This workshop presenter at the African American Fellowship Convention in Lubbock, Texas yesterday, Pastor Michael Evans, a Baptist Pastor suggested that Baptist need to do more to engage the culture, particularly young people. Some of the suggestions were if you are in a Spanish-speaking community, learn to speak spanish, use Facebook and Twitter to let friends know you are in church, if your church or community has alot of young people, have dances for them. He also said that the church-going audience is more educated now, many having completed high school and college. As a result, Sunday school teachers are going to have to "step up their game" by not reading lessons verbatim. Instead they need to know the text, and background and come prepared for dialogue so that deeper learning can occur. 

I agree.  The church needs to do much more to reach young people. In many churches, the absence of young people is scary.  There is no doubt about that.  The world is reaching our children everyday on television, in the movies, on the radio, and yes, on Facebook and other social media sites.  Young people are being exposed to sex, immorality, crime and drugs at extremely young ages.  Too many children act like grown adults and it is sad.  They know how to make babies, but they know nothing about how to raise them because they are still babies themselves.  So, yes, the church needs to reach young people. 

But once the church reaches them, the church needs to teach them.  The church is not a social club.  It should not be a place that just has activities for activities sake.  The church should be just as radical, if not more radical, in "training up a child" as it is in reaching a child.  The church needs to offer Bible Bowls and debates in scripture in such a way where young people will get it, and will not be afraid to speak to the Jehovah's Witness at their door, nor too timid to give a sound defense for the faith.  The church should be just as radical in training up children in their culture so that they not only know whose they are in Christ Jesus, but who they are as a people.  The church needs to be just as radical in "training up a child" in reading, writing, math, techonology, and the sciences so that our children, African American children, are able to compete with the best and the brightest from any culture anywhere. 

Black Baptists should engage changing culture, says conference workshop | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Indiana Black Expo Kicks Off with Music, Prayer and Church Celebration - BCNN1

I'd like to give a shout out to my church, St. Stephen church, pastor and choirs for representin' last night at the opening Ecumenical Service for the Indiana Black Expo. The Temple and Sanctuary choirs accompanied Pastor Cosby along with a caravan of church members. The Temple Choir director, John Ray is from Light of the World Christian Church where the service was held. I know the occasion was special for him. Pastor Cosby is always talking about those delicious Krispy Kreme donuts in his messages. Makes me want to swing by the donut shop this morning, but I digress. Some of Pastor Cosby's best messages, in my opinion, are those that include black history. He is an excellent historian. The article below states, "He reminded those gathered of the accomplishments of blacks through history, including George Washington Carver, Dr. Charles Drew and Jackie Robinson."


Indiana Black Expo Kicks Off with Music, Prayer and Church Celebration - BCNN1

Rev. Joseph Lowery, T. D. Jakes and Black Churches Give Praise to the KJV Bible - BCNN1

I  was on BlackChristianNews.com and ran across this news story saying that apparently many people, religious leaders and Christians still prefer reading the King James version of the Bible despite the numerous versions that have since been written in contemporary language, Rev. Joseph Lowery, T. D. Jakes and Black Churches Give Praise to the KJV Bible - BCNN1.

I am not a King James Only proponent by any means, however, I agree that some passages in the Bible don't translate, read like, or "memorize well" like King James. For example, whenever I recite John 1:1-18, I use King James. There is a beautiful poetic flow from "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God..." that I don't get with other versions of that particular passage.

I have many Bible translations. I believe I prefer the New International Version. It is one of, if not the most popular version today.  There is a news story out about the NIV 2011 version. Apparently the Southern Baptist are raising a fuss over it's gender-neutral language.

This ministry has given away more than 700 Bibles through our Walking With Jesus campaigns the past few years, most of them ESV (English Standard Version), some the HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible). These are good contemporary translations. I will say that one of my least favorite Bible translations, however, is The Message Translation because it doesn't keep to the original meaning of the text in too many instances. It should definitely not be used as a study Bible.

What is your favorite Bible translation and why?

Rev. Joseph Lowery, T. D. Jakes and Black Churches Give Praise to the KJV Bible - BCNN1