This World Is Our Dressing Room

A Voice for the Voiceless: African American Women of Faith
Part 5: Octavia Rogers Albert: This World Is Our Dressing Room

Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1

Note: For part one of this blog mini-series, please visit: http://bit.ly/T7Zas and for part two, please visit: http://bit.ly/14aWH6 and for part three please visit: http://bit.ly/wJs58 and for part four please visit: http://bit.ly/3iD5VS

This World Is Our Dressing Room

Octavia Albert was adept at using Scripture, hymns, spirituals, and Christian literature to minister healing soul care and guiding spiritual direction.

Aunt Charlotte shares how they sang the spiritual My God Delivered Daniel and then says that “it seemed the more trials I had the more I could pray.”

Octavia responds, “Aunt Charlotte, you remind me of Pilgrim’s Progress.” In the ensuing conversation, she compares Charlotte to John Bunyan (the author of Pilgrim’s Progress) who, like Charlotte, remained faithful to God even when persecuted for his faith.

Charlotte, identifying with Bunyan, notes, “But that’s the time a true child of God prays, when he gets in trouble.”

Octavia also skillfully uses imagery in her biblical counseling ministry. After discussing living for this life or living for eternity, she summarizes her practical theology.

“This world is our dressing-room, and if we are not dressed up and prepared to meet God when we die we can never enter the promised land; for there is no preparation beyond the grave. The Bible tells us, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’”

Stirring Up Faith

Her ministry certainly wasn’t all talk. More than anything, Octavia loved to draw out, stir up, and honor Aunt Charlotte’s faith.

Discussing the evils of slavery and the goodness of God, Charlotte displays her own astute theology. “You see, my child, God will take care of his people. He will hear us when we cry.”

Octavia then fans Charlotte’s faith into flames. “Aunt Charlotte, it really makes me feel happy to hear you express your faith in the goodness of God.”

Entering the Rest of God

Octavia ministered to many ex-enslaved Christians. In talking to Aunt Lorendo about her husband’s (Uncle John Goodwin) health, Lorendo notes that John would never be physically well due to the cruel treatment he endured.

Expressing her faith and hope, Lorendo says to Octavia, “I trust we both will rest by and by.”

Octavia replies, “Yes, Aunt Lorendo, the Bible promises that there is ‘rest for the people of God.’ And it affords us joy to know that although we have trials and tribulations here we who prove faithful till death shall enter that ‘rest prepared for the people of God.’”

The Rest of the Story

For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part six . . .

Note: Readers can enjoy the empowering narratives of over two-dozen African American women (and scores of African American men) narrated in Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering. For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/XvsTu

The Best of Books on Multicultural Ministry

Kellemen’s Christian The Best Of Guide
The Best of Books on Multicultural Ministry and Intercultural Relationships

Kellemen’s Christian The Best of Guide: Making your life easier by finding, summarizing, evaluating, and posting the best resources on a wide variety of topics from a Christian perspective.

The Best of Books on
Multicultural Ministry and Intercultural Relationships
Part One

Note: Excerpted from African American History, Life, Christianity, and Ministry: An Annotated Resource Guide, By Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC. For information on the full version: http://bit.ly/f1AvT

*Anderson, David. Gracism: The Art of Inclusion. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2007.

Pastor David Anderson builds a thoughtful, practical, balanced Christian approach to multiculturalism. He avoids the extremes of color-blindness and of affirmative action. Skillfully he explains the biblical injunction to care for the marginalized. Gracism is a must read for anyone who longs to build bridges leading to racial healing, harmony, and reconciliation. Its balance between theology, philosophy, and methodology makes it a uniquely practical manual.

*Anderson, David. Multicultural Ministry: Finding Your Church’s Unique Rhythm. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.

Pastor David Anderson has “been there, done that.” As a seasoned pastor of a multi-cultural church in a multi-cultural community, Pastor Anderson writes both with biblical insight and personal experience. A well-written, practical, and hopeful book, Multicultural Ministry is a foundational book for everyone interested in racial harmony and mutual ministry.

*Anderson, David, and Brent Zuercher. Letters Across the Divide: Two Friends Explore Racism, Friendship, and Faith. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.

Pastor David Anderson and author Brent Zuercher have penned a groundbreaking and distinctive book. What happens when two friends of different races explore racism and faith? Letters across the Divide happens. For a firsthand account of what honest, open, bold, and loving multicultural relationships could look like, read this book.

*Breckenridge, James, and Lillian Breckenridge. What Color Is Your God?: Multicultural Education in the Church. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

As the subtitle suggests, What Color Is Your God educates pastors in foundational cultural understanding. Covering ethnic groups in America, this primer shows church leaders how to value cultural differences. It also highlights transcultural biblical principles and probes how various cultures apply or misapply these eternal principles in daily life.

*Conde-Frazier, Elizabeth, Steve Kang, and Gary Parrett. A Many Colored Kingdom: Multicultural Dynamics for Spiritual Formation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.

A Many Colored Kingdom provides ground breaking insight into the theology and methodology of spiritual formation from and in a multicultural perspective. The co-authors themselves live and breathe what they write, researching and writing with passion and precision. This book richly celebrates the diverse contributions to Christian spirituality necessary to fully engage and embrace the infinite, multifaceted beauty and glory of Christ.

*Cooper, Rodney. We Stand Together: Reconciling Men of Different Color. Chicago: Moody, 1995.

We Stand Together would be a five-star book if it were not now somewhat dated. Editor Rodney Cooper is a leading Black Evangelical educator. Active in the 90s in the Promise Keepers’ movement, he surrounded himself with men of diverse ethnic groups to edit this primer on how men of different races can understand, forgive, reconcile with one another, and minister together.

*Emerson, Michael. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Please, don’t read this book without reading the “sequel” (see below): United by Faith. Divided by Faith outlines the problem, as understood through a dissertation research project, of race relations in Evangelicalism in America in the 1990s. The results are troubling and at times could even produce hopelessness. However, facts are facts, and this sort of detailed quantitative and qualitative study is all-too-rare in Evangelical circles.

Emerson’s premise is that much of what White Evangelicals do to unite across racial lines end up being counter-productive. He does so by showing a concise history of Evangelical thought about racism from Colonial times to the Civil Rights movement. His core thesis is that most work done is too individualistic—one person trying alone to cross racial boundaries. His basic suggestion is the cross-cultural congregation. Unfortunately, until one reads United by Faith, how to accomplish this goal is left to the reader’s imagination—which may by now have been stunted by all the piles of statistics suggesting that Evangelical racial reconciliation is futile. However, the power of God, starting with one person’s commitment to cross-cultural relationships, can start a chain reaction—and lead to hope.

*Emerson, Michael. United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Emerson has convened a multicultural team of co-authors to follow-up his earlier work Divided by Faith. In this work, Emerson argues that Evangelicals, when they have done anything at all to work toward racial reconciliation, have been to individualistic in their approach.

Emerson then argues that the biblical and effective approach is the multicultural congregation in which no one race makes up more than 80% of the congregation. The authors explain the biblical and social need for such congregations. They then follow with hope-giving success stories which provide the philosophy, principles, and practices necessary to obtain the biblical social vision of the multicultural people of God.

Implied, but not highlighted or extracted in detail, is the truth that such congregations can and should then do two things: 1.) Be a visible testimony exhorting the world to “go and do likewise.” 2.) Take a stand against societal racism and promote racial reconciliation and justice.

*Kellemen, Robert W. and Karole A. Edwards. Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.

Beyond the Suffering is a one-of-a-kind African American narrative. It is not simply a history of America, not simply a history of African Americans, not simply a history of African American Christianity, but a narrative of how African American Christians ministered to one another. As the title suggests, the book tells how African American believers helped one another to move beyond their horrific suffering to a place of healing and hope.

The characters are the African American believers themselves. The plot is their real-life battles told in their empowering words. The authors are a co-authoring team, one an African American female, the other a Caucasian male. Together, they embrace the legacy of how African Americans sustained, healed, reconciled, and guided one another in the faith.

Written in an engaging style that allows African Americans to tell their own story, Beyond the Suffering reads like a novel. It empowers African Americans and all people of all races and nationalities to love like Christ loved even in the worst of circumstances. Readers not only are riveted by the powerful historical chronicles, but are also equipped to apply soul care and spiritual direction principles to their own lives and ministries.

Important Stuff

*Your Guide: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC, is the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries (www.rpmministries.org) through which he writes, speaks, and consults to equip God’s people to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth. He blogs daily at http://rpmministries.blogspot.com.

*My Necessary Disclaimer: Of course, I don’t endorse everything in every article, book, or link that you’ll find in Kellemen’s Christian The Best of Guide. I report, you decide.

*Your Suggestions Are Welcomed: Feel free to post comments and/or send emails (rpm.ministries@gmail.com) about resources that you think deserve attention in various categories covered in Kellemen’s Christian The Best of Guide.

Flying Closer to the Flame

Flying Closer to the Flame: A Passion for the Holy Spirit

Book Details

Author: Charles R. Swindoll

Publisher: Word (1993)

Category: Theology, Church, Spirituality, Holy Spirit, Christian Living

Reviewed 05/09/09 By: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC, Authof of Soul Physicians, Spiritual Friends, Beyond the Suffering, Sacred Friendships

Recommended: A ground-breaking, irenic, balanced book on how Cessationists can experience the Person and ministry of the Holy Spirit today.

Review: Enjoying and Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Though somewhat dated (published in 1993) Flying Closer to the Flame: A Passion for the Holy Spirit, in many ways can be considered a classic in the genre. When he wrote it, Chuck Swindoll, was President of the non-Charismatic, cessationist Dallas Theological Seminary and thus shocked the Evangelical world by his authorship of this book.

As the title suggests, Swindoll encourages his fellow cessationist (Christian who believe that the sign gifts such as healers, miracle workers, speaking in tongues, and prophesy have ceased) to hold those theological views while remaining open to experiencing the full power and presence of the Holy Spirit today. In Swindoll’s thinking, cessationists have often minimized the ongoing role of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life, and thus minimized their passion for the Holy Spirit.

Swindoll writes not primarily a theological workbook or a “two-fisted, negative warning against all the errors floating around” (p. 13). Instead, in the heat of the theological battle, he wants to urge non-charismatics closer to the heat of the Holy Spirit.

With careful exegesis presented at the lay level, with careful balance avoiding extremes, and with an irenic spirit, Swindoll invites non-charismatics and charismatics alike to consider what the Bible does say about the Spirit’s non-sign-gift-work today. He rightly teaches that there is much that the Bible promises about the Spirit’s ministry that is still alive and well today.

Laying this foundational biblical theology, Swindoll moves into practical/pastoral theology of the spiritual life. He explores with readers the role of the Spirit in decision-making, guiding, and leading the believer. He examines the filling and fruit of the Spirit and how the Spirit produces spiritual maturity in believers today.

He is unafraid to touch on areas often ignored by non-charismatics such as “unidentified inner promptings,” the Spirit and our emotions, and sickness and healing. While never straying from historic non-charismatic teachings, and while always tying his assertions directly to the text, Swindoll explains how the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to speak to our spirit.

As a counselor, I appreciate Swindoll’s repeated return to a comprehensive understanding of the image of God in us. His theological understanding of the imago Dei guides his exegesis both when addressing inner promptings and when explaining the Spirit and our emotions.

For readers wanting an updated and more scholarly focused study of the same topic from a cessationist perspective, Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? by Wallace and Sawyer is the recommended text. What Flying Closer to the Flame is for the general non-charismatic Protestant lay person, Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit is for the scholarly non-charismatic Protestant pastor, professor, and student.

Come Alive to the Holy Spirit

Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit?:
An Investigation into the Ministry of the Spirit of God Today

Book Details

*Author: Edited by Daniel B Wallace and M. James Sawyer

*Publisher: Biblical Studies Press (November 2005)

*Category: Theology, Church, Spirituality

Discerning Reader Editorial Review: http://tinyurl.com/cvfnyd

Reviewed 05/08/09 by Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC

Recommended: An insightful, balanced, irenic examination of how Cessationists can and should experience the Holy Spirit today.

Review: Who’s Alive to the Holy Spirit?

In 1993, Chuck Swindoll authored Flying Closer to the Flame: A Passion for the Holy Spirit. What that book was for the general non-charismatic Protestant lay person, Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? is for the scholarly non-charismatic Protestant pastor, professor, and student.

The co-editors, Daniel B. Wallace and M. James Sawyer, along with the nine other contributing authors, all write from the cessationist theological camp. Cessationists believe that the Bible teaches that the sign gift ministry of the Holy Spirit ceased at the close of the New Testament canon. These sign gifts (such as the gift of healing, miracle working, speaking in tongues, prophecy, etc.) were given to authenticate the apostolic ministry and message of inspired Scripture and not meant to be ongoing aspects of the Spirit’s ministry in the believer throughout Church history.

The purpose of Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? is not to provide theological support for that view. Instead, that view is assumed. Rather, the purpose is to stretch their fellow cessationists to consider the ongoing, active, powerful, personal presence and ministry of the Spirit today in the experiential life of the non-charismatic Christian.

Wallace and Sawyer launch their edited work with candid narratives of their personal experience in the cessationist camp. When life crisis struck, their personal, academic approach to the Spirit was found wanting. At the same time, their theological convictions did not allow for a charismatic experience of the Spirit. Out of that tension, this book was born.

How does a non-charismatic cessationist experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit? The eleven assembled cessationist scholars address that question theologically, historically, and personally. As with any collaborative book, the linkage between various chapters can be choppy and the value of diverse chapters varies. However, over all, readers are exposed to a wide assortment of important theological examinations.

Before a summary overview, readers should understand, as noted in the opening paragraph of this review, that this book is not for those disinclined toward scholarly detail. Swindoll’s book, though fifteen years old, is still the place to go for the lay non-charismatic wanting a practical theology of the Holy Spirit.

One of the central issues addressed is summarized by several of the authors in the disturbing picture of the cessationist “Trinity”: Father, Son, and Holy Scripture. Yes, you read that right—Holy Scripture. Wallace and his co-writers sense that for many non-charismatics the Holy Scriptures have replaced the Holy Spirit. The authors ask readers to consider what the role of the Spirit is in their lives now that the canon is completed.

Wallace’s chapter on the witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16 is core to that discussion. In a nutshell, Wallace presents a joint ministry of Spirit and Scripture. Believers have confidence that they are Christians based upon the objective testimony of Scripture and the subjective witness of the Spirit. This dual, mingled role of Spirit and Scripture is emphasized throughout Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit?

Richard Averbeck, in his chapter on “God, People, and the Bible,” does a fine job exploring the relationship between illumination and biblical scholarship. He also does an excellent job convicting the typical evangelical scholar of his/her failure to be dependent upon and open to the Spirit in the scholarly process.

“The Spirit in the Black Church” by Willie Peterson is one of those “worth the price of the book” chapters. For anyone wanting a handle on how black cessationist Evangelicals handle the “tension” between the experience of the Spirit and the cessation of the sign gifts, this is the chapter to read. Peterson’s blending of history, theology, culture, and current ministry is example-setting.

David Eckman’s chapter on “The Holy Spirit and Emotions” should be required reading for all seminary professors, students, pastors, and Christian counselors. It provides the seeds for a much needed Evangelical theology of emotions. Emotional intelligence has been a buzz word in secular writing for nearly two decades. Yet the Christian community still has not offered a practical biblical theology of emotionality. Eckman has laid the foundation.

Co-editor James Sawyer’s concluding chapter “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Scriptures?” powerfully encapsulates the message of the book. Sawyer journeys with readers on an important historical trek which opens eyes to why cessationists have become so afraid of the Holy Spirit. His fascinating and ironic premise is that the same Evangelicals who decry how the Enlightenment influenced liberal Christianity, were themselves influenced by Enlightenment rationalism. Ouch. You have to read it to appreciate it.

Overall, Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? is a timely book that has already stirred up much needed conversation. Admittedly, a few chapters were uneven at times—seeming not to fit the overall flow of the book—as if they had been written for other venues (which is most likely true) and woven into the fabric of this book. Yet, that is minor in the overall scope of this important contribution to the field.

Perhaps the true “criticism” I have about this book is its failure to provide a “practical/pastoral theology of the Holy Spirit.” Before I explain that, I should say that in fairness to the authors, that was not the full intention of this book. So, my encouragement would be that they rejoin to write “volume two.”

As I think about the theological process, I see at least four “types” of theologies: academic, historical, practical/pastoral, and spiritual. Academic theology (including systematic, biblical, exegetical, and lexical) explores the “What?” questions. As the label suggests, it is academic in nature. This book does a splendid job exploring the academic theology of the Holy Spirit from a cessationist perspective.

Historical theology explores the development of doctrine over time. It asks the “What then?” questions. This book also does an excellent job uncovering and presenting the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the evangelical tradition. Spiritual theology asks the “So what?” questions. What are the implications for our lives of the academic truths discovered in the text? Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit? did a commendable job challenging readers to consider such implications. It presented many categories for the cessationist Christian to think through.

Practical/pastoral theology asks the “What now?” questions. How do we personally apply and how do we disciple, mentor, and guide others in the application of the text? Here is where I felt a level of disappointment with the book. As a pastor/counselor/professor/soul physician, I wanted more practical direction. We learned what not to do. We even learned what areas to think through.

However, as readers we were not given many pictures of what this actually looks like in daily existence. We were not given many models of discipleship ministry. What exactly does it look like to equip and empower cessationist Christians to be filled with the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, to express the fruit of the Spirit. While some of these topics were broached, the focus often failed to address fully the practical “what now?” questions.

Again, no one book can “do it all.” But a book emphasizing how cessationists can and should experience the empowering presence of the Spirit could “go there.” I hope the next volume does so to a greater extent. That said, I still highly recommend this book.

Beyond the Suffering: Celebrate the Legacy!

Guest Blog: Review of Beyond the Suffering by
Pastor Mark Tanious

Highly Recommended: An Extraordinary Account!

Few books have touched my heart as powerfully as Beyond the Suffering. This is no ordinary story. It is the extraordinary account of the history and legacy African Americans.

Using a biblical and historical modeling of soul care and spiritual direction, this book introduces many "heroes" of the faith. One thing is for sure, there is no sugar coating in this book! The personal accounts of slaves contained in this book will both challenge you with deep sorrow and encourage you with supernatural hope.

Great Hope for All People of All Races

But, I believe that is exactly the goal of Kellemen and Edwards. They understand that the history of African Americans is filled with terrible injustice and inequality. Yet, they demonstrate with great clarity that the history of African Americans is filled with much greater hope, healing, and forgiveness. As a person ministering in a multicultural setting, I have been able to use the stories in this book to help people understand that the principles they contain go beyond any single culture or race. These stories are filled with biblical insights I am sure will produce great fruit for the entire body of Christ.

Use It In Church Small Groups and Youth Groups

Kellemen and Edwards do a phenomenal job in articulating the value of the African American legacy for every one of us. This book should be used in Sunday School classes and small groups all around the country. I have already shared some of the book with my youth group, which has created healthy discussion and reflection. Finally, this book is written well. The authors navigate the issues with sensitivity, compassion, and humility. They realize that in many ways the personal accounts really speak for themselves.

And after navigating through such turbulent waters (the "suffering"), Kellemen and Edwards find a way to leave the reader with a profound sense of hope (the "beyond" the suffering). And that combination makes this a powerful and transformative resource.

Purchase Your Copy 40% Off for Just $9.99: http://tinyurl.com/cm96x6

Where Are All the Brothers?

Book Review:

Where Are All the Brothers?:

Straight Answers to Men’s Questions About the Church

Check Out the Review on Discerning Reader: http://tinyurl.com/cs7rmn

Book Details

*Author: Eric C. Redmond.
*Publisher: Crossway Books (June, 2008)
*Category: Church, Men’s Ministry, African American Christianity, Reformed Theology

Discerning Reader Editorial Review: http://tinyurl.com/cs7rmn

Reviewed 05/01/09 by Bob Kellemen, Ph.D. (www.rpmministries.org)

Author of: Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction: http://tinyurl.com/cm96x6

Recommended: A practical and powerful defense of the relevance of theology in the Church for everyday life.

Review: In Defense of Christ and His Church

Author Eric C. Redmond is a leading light in the movement of African American Christians back to Reformed theology. In Where Are All the Brothers?, Pastor Redmond writes with a burning passion for revitalization in the African American church. For Redmond, such revival begins with theology. While that word (theology) may terrify some, Pastor Redmond realizes and explains how relevant theology is to everyday life. In fact, Where Are All the Brothers? is “theology in disguise.” It is a practical manual written with wit and wisdom in particular for the black male who has a litany of reasons for being unchurched.

Chapter by chapter in bite-size chunks, Redmond helps men to digest biblical and practical answers to questions they have about the value of Christianity and the Church. He challenges men to give him ten minutes for nine days. His prayer is that his male readers will be transformed by truth, and in turn African American churches will experience a reformation as an army of African American men march back into leadership in church and society. In many ways, Pastor Redmond writes like the great African American pastors of the past—Rev. Richard Allen, Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, Pastor Peter Randolph, Pastor Lemeul Haynes, Pastor Jupiter Hammon, and so many other stalwarts of the faith. He also writes like his current colleagues Pastor Thabiti M. Anyabwile and Pastor Anthony Carter. They each share in common the courage of their conviction that God’s truth sets men free.

Instead of making excuses or side-stepping critical issues, Redmond converses with his readers about their reasons for not going to church. Chapter after chapter, Redmond disabuses men of lies about Christ, Christianity, and the Church.

Chapter One: Addressing hypocrites in the church.

Chapter Two: Explaining the inspiration of Scripture.

Chapter Three: Interacting about the role of men and women in the church.

Chapter Four: Exploring the preacher’s calling.

Chapter Five: Contrasting what Islam claims to offer Black men and what Christ offers all men.

Chapter Six: Discussing the church and money.

Chapter Seven: Defending organized religion.

Chapter Eight: Honoring the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter Nine: Outlining eight marks of a healthy church.

On each topic, the author speaks truthfully on matters church-goers and skeptics alike talk about in private, at the barber shop, or hair salon. Redmond provides a forum to have a public discussion that rests on the truth of Scripture.

The intent of the book is threefold. First, the book is intended to be evangelistic. Redmond designs it as a tool that explains the Gospel and the Church as the bearer of the Gospel message. Second, the book is intended to be apologetic. For the maturing Christian reader, Where Are All the Brothers? provides knowledge to answer skeptics’ most significant questions about Christ and the practices of local churches. Third, the book intends to be reformational. The content will deepen maturing believers in basic, overlooked truths about the faith.

What we have here is the ability to communicate. Redmond goes directly to the heart of the matter with a straight-forward, candid approach that includes a flavorful mix of biblical and seminal wisdom presented in a conversational tone. Pastor Eric Redmond has penned an “ecclesiology for everyday life”: a practical defense of the relevance of the church—especially for the black male who has his doubts.

However, this book is not only for the black brother. It is for all brothers and sisters. And it is not only for those who are not attending church. It will strengthen the faith and resolve of church members also. Where Are All the Brothers? is enticing, educating, equipping, and empowering reading for all believers.

Be a New Year MVP for Christ!

Be a New Year MVP for Christ!

Almost everyone is at least tempted to make some sort of New Year's resolution every January 1. Unfortunately, studies show what a meager percentage of us follow through.

I find that our resolutions are too small--too focused on now and not focused enough on the big picture of our life.

What we need is the bigger picture of God's calling in our life. For years I have taught students, pastors, counselors, and lay people a process of developing a personal and ministry MVP-C Statement. Briefly, here's how we might apply this concept to our New Year's resolution.

M Is for Mission

The "M" in an MVP-C Statement is for your mission from God. We must base our mission on clear biblical directives. A mission statement clearly defines what God's Word says about how I fulfill my calling from God.

So . . . whatever your January 1 resolution is . . . have you backed it with the Word? Put another way, Does God have your back? Go back to your resolution and put meat on it by examining and applying specific biblical principles related to your resolution.

V Is for Vision

The "V" in an MVP-C Statement is for your unique God-given vision or dream. It is your DNA or finger-print. It is the way God designed you to fulfill your mission differently from anyone else on the planet.

As an example, my calling and mission from God is to write, speak, and consult about biblical counseling and spiritual direction. Now other people do the same. But what is the DNA of "my way" of doing so? After much prayerful pondering, I now state my vision as: writing, speaking, and consulting about comprehensive, compassioante, and culturally-informed biblical counseling and spiritual formation that equips others to change lives with Christ's changeless truth.

So . . . as you reflect on your 2009 resolution . . . have you sought God's unique design for how you will fulfill it this year. He has fearfully and wonderfully made you. In what special and specific way will you fulfill God's dream for your life in 09?

P is for Passion

The "P" in an MVP-C Statement stands for your passion. In a passion statement we attempt to summarize in one brief, pithy, memorable phrase our focus. For me, my passion is one picture: Coach. In everything I do, I am a coach. I live to equip others. I love to coach others to speak the truth in love. So my passion is also one phrase: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ's Changeless Truth.

So . . . as you activate your 09 resolution, what one phrase can you post on your laptop, link to your Blackberry, put on your fridge . . . that reminds you constantly why you do what you do in 09?

C is for Commission

I know, you are saying, "Wait, that makes it an MVP-C Statement!" You're right. God calls us to be MVP--Most Valuble Person. But, even more, He calls us to be MVP-Cs--Most Valuable Person for Christ!

The "C" in an MVP-C Statement is for commission. This puts skin on the bones and makes the rubber meet the road so we walk the talk (okay, enough cliches already!). The major part of a commision statement is the MAP: Ministry Action Plan. This describes how you will achieve your M, V, and P. It keeps you accountable and moving forward.

For me, my MAP focuses on writing, speaking, and consulting--and a number of specific goals and objectives and methods that I have to ensure that in 09 I write, speak, and consult about comprehensive, compassionate, culturally-informed biblical counseling . . .

So . . . for you . . . what's your roadMAP for your 09 mission, vision, and passion? How will you get where God wants you to go? When you arrive, how will you assess whether you have met your goals? Create a MAP--a Ministry Action Plan that outlines specifically the steps on your 09 journey.

Be God's MVP-C in 09

I pray that when December 31, 2009 rolls around, we can all look back with awe and amazement because God will have empowered us to actually live out our 09 resolutions for His glory.

That's My King!

That's My King!

Dr. S. M. Lockridge (March 7, 1913 to April 4, 2000) was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African American congregation located in San Diego, from 1953 to 1993. He also served as a guest lecturer at many schools, including The Billy Graham School of Evangelism.

His best-known message is a six-minute description of Jesus Christ, known as "That's My King!"

Here's a link to a YouTube version of his empowerng message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX_7j32zgNw

It starts twenty seconds in. It's well worth the wait!

How Can Any Christian African American Vote for Obama?

Guest Blogger: Pastor Eric Redmond

How Can Any Christian African American Vote for Obama?:
Throwing the Race Card on an All Black Table

Today, with his permission, I re-post a blog originally written by Pastor Eric Redmond. Eric is a brother in Christ, an Evangelical African American pastor, an author (Where Are All the Brothers?), a friend, and a colleague in ministry at Capital Bible Seminary.

Eric writes today not to give an endorsement, but to open a dialogue and to increase multi-cultural understanding. Allow Eric, whether you agree with his perspective totally or not, to stretch your/our mind(s) and to challenge you/us to build bridges of racial understanding.

http://ericredmond.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/how-can-any-christian-african-american-vote-for-obama-throwing-the-race-card-on-an-all-black-table/

Posted by ericredmond on July 11, 2008

© Eric C. Redmond, 2008

How Can Any Christian African American Vote for Obama?:
Throwing the Race Card on an All Black Table

Herein lie buried many things, which if read with patience may sow the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the twentieth century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line. (W. E. B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk [New York: Pocket Books, 2005]: 3.)

“But how can a Christian vote for Obama?”

I am paraphrasing a question asked of me while in attendance at the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference five weeks ago. It had become obvious to my interrogator that an African American, Democratic version of wrapping the Cross of Christ in the Stars and Stripes had taken a prominent place in the sermons of those preaching at the conference. We were being challenged by speakers to be diligent not to squander our moral responsibility to push Obama into the White House. Roaring responses of clapping and shouting followed these charges as if all of the thousands of African American church leaders and laity present were in full agreement.

Such laudation of the senator from Illinois, by those proclaiming to know the Creator through the Incarnate Son, bothered my friend. An Illinois citizen and theologically conservative Christian, he could not reconcile a vote cast for Obama with anyone who professed the name of Christ. To him, it was very obvious that Obama’s views on abortion and same-sex marriage are so far from what Scripture requires of us that, seemingly, to vote for Obama would be to deny the very things Christians believe. So he turned to me for some explanation of how African American Christians could vote in good faith for Obama without sensing conviction for endorsing one who takes anti-Christian positions on the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage.

The Issue of Hope

I started by explaining that for African Americans, there is a sense of hope no longer being deferred. Instead, hope is at the front door knocking furiously, waiting to see if African Americans will answer. If we open the door, forty million African Americans are going to witness a fellow African American getting the largest slice of the American Dream Pie—a dessert many had hoped to see people of color eat in their lifetime, but the many fell asleep having embraced such promises from afar. As the struggle for social and economic equality has been a struggle for all African Americans, regardless of belief system(s), we all share in the joy when one of our own achieves the (presumptive) nomination for the highest office in the land—an office that has been reserved for white males only until now. Obama’s candidacy would allow all African Americans to say to our forefathers, “we finally did it! Your attempts at escaping slavery, deaths by lynching, scars from the scourge of slave masters’ whips, pain from the full blast of unleashed water hoses and muzzle-free police dogs, humiliation by white hecklers at lunch counters, degradation at “coloreds only” fountains and restrooms, indignation on the back of buses, forced acceptance of poorer educational materials and facilities, and marches at the threat of beatings and bombings have not been for naught! Hope, yea victory, is finally here! We are equal at the highest level!”

Factoring all of the historical pockmarks into the hope equation seems to be African Americans’ expression of the reality of “the problem of the Twentieth Century” (DuBois). For African Americans, Christians and non-Christians alike, race, racial prejudice, racial segregation, racial discrimination, racial injustice, racial hatred, racial educational and economic disparity, racial self-consciousness, the racialization of society and all attempts to address problems attributed to the majority culture’s mistreatment of African Americans in any form based on race alone only serve to remind African Americans of their “double-consciousness” (DuBois). As Dubois wrote, in this society African Americans are:

a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world— a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world… It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness— an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder, (3).

The Issue of Identity

If we take DuBois’ musings as an accurate analysis of African American existence, we can see another factor involved in Christian African Americans’ support of Obama: identity. We now have a candidate who we think identifies with the experience of African Americans. He has experienced the struggle of the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves (even though he is not one). So surely, it is supposed, he will fight for policies and programs that will be sensitive to the plight of his people and that work toward uplifting the entire race of people to the place where the playing field is level. Surely, as one of us, he will sign into law measures that will protect the gains made during the Civil Rights and post-Civil Rights Eras. Because he is one of us, we have hope that we will no longer have to look at ourselves through the contemptuous eyes of others—i.e., white Americans. We now can look at ourselves through the eyes of the man who could hold the most well-known office in the free-world, and he can look at the world through our eyes. Such looking is inherent when one is in the majority culture; in that culture it is never hoped for or awaited. It is part of being in the majority. For African Americans, to deny Obama would then be, in some sense, to deny one’s own identity. Yet it remains true that no one ever thinks a white man not voting for Clinton, Bush or McCain is a denial of whiteness.

I would suggest that Obama, more than any other candidate, has the ability to say to African Americans, “my fellow Americans,” and do so with the implicit trust of African Americans. His Father’s Day speech demonstrated this ability, for he is the only presidential candidate who can risk bringing up a major social problem in the African American community in an African American pulpit without fear of ostracizing himself. He was able to play a black race card on an all black table in such a way that to outsiders it simply looked as if he still had his card in his hand. But those at the table gladly folded their cards having seen the winning hand.

Being able to see the potential for mutual embracing of identities in a candidate further means that African Americans will not feel the need to settle on the candidate who represents the lesser of two evils. By common consent, many African Americans feel that their votes are taken for granted by one major political party, and only courted as tokenism by the other major party. The votes do not result in policy changes that benefit African Americans as a whole no matter which party’s candidate wins office. As a result, African Americans often resign simply to give a vote to one of the two white candidates, without feeling that their best interests will be taken up truly. An Obama candidacy immediately changes the hopeless feelings of resignation as the fall approaches. His candidacy means African Americans will have the opportunity to make a choice excitedly and confidently. Higher than average African American attendance at the polls in November could be a reflection of the joy brought on by the ability to pick a candidate without mental or emotional reservation and resignation.

The Issue of Justice

I think there is a third reason African American hail Obama: justice. That is, we have placed faith in liberal government to save us when we perceived that those who were conservative politically were weak in running to aid those experiencing race-related injustices. Historically, it seemed that change in race-relations in America was slow to come about through personal moral change on a wide scale. As a result, African Americans looked to Federal policy to institute change in institutional structures. That is, “if you will not find it in your heart to grant me the same access to bid on business contracts, I will look to the government to enact legislation to make you give me access to bid equally on business contracts regardless of my skin color.”

An Obama nomination looks like a nomination for social justice – far more than does a nomination for someone from the other party. If the Illinois senator will carry both white and Black voters in November, unlike Democratic candidates from other ethnicities, he will not be able to make promises to African Americans without accountability to keep his promises. Instead, he will be under pressure not to let his people down judicially. He will have to reject policies that stand against the Democratic version of racial progress, and he will have to sign into law policies that stand for such progress. Anything short of this will bring more ire from African Americans than that directed toward any other president who fell short on his promises. Because the hope is greater, the expectation will be greater, and the backlash for perceived failure will be greater. But African Americans do not expect Obama to fail. They expect social and economic justice policies to find favor with this candidate, for Affirmative Action to be strengthened, for racial profiling and racial inequities in the legal systems to be brought into account and see diminishing statistics, and for “equal justice for all” to be more than words on the halls of justice.

An Obama presidency would portray justice in another odd sort of way. Akin to the issue of hope above, his election would be seen as vindication. It would have a self-correcting effect on the errors of America’s history, with its sins of chattel slavery, Jim Crow laws, and ongoing civil injustices. What better way for African Americans to hear the country say, “join us in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!” What greater way is there for African Americans in turn to say, “We have overcome!” What an Obama in the White House would do for African Americans is allow us to feel we can say, “Now this country is going to treat us equally, fairly, justly.”

In order to understand the sentiment of African Americans as a whole – of whom Christian African Americans are a part – one would do well to consider that African Americans have not yet been free in this country for as long as we were slaves, (1654-1865, [211 years] vs. 1865-2008. [143 years]). Moreover, the Civil Rights Era only ended 33 years ago with the extension of the Voting Rights Act (1975). It was only ten years prior to this extension that Jim Crow laws were brought to an end with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Many of the citizens who rode through this era on the back of the bus are still alive waiting on even more gains for African Americans—gains they feel will not come at the hands of white leadership. These same citizens, who often daily drank in the fears of an Emmett Till episode or a Birmingham bombing—this while whites separately drank in American prosperity free from fear, at the expense of African Americans— diligently taught their children to trust African Americans to uplift African Americans. That generation, and their children to the third and fourth generations, sees in Barak Obama one for whom we can say, “finally, we’re driving this bus.” This attitude even has been expressed by African American conservatives, such as J. C. Watts and Armstrong Williams, who are considering jumping party lines in order to cast a vote for Senator Obama.

The Cross and the Ballot

The above thoughts do not make a judgment on whether Christian African Americans should or should not vote for Obama. The intention of this work is only to offer some reasons that explain why Christian African Americans might vote for Obama in the fall. It does not address the suggested contradiction between voting for a pro-choice candidate and claiming to be a voter who holds a pro-life position. Personally, I think that sanctity of life issues only deal with one of ten areas of sin in the Decalogue, so they are not to be elevated above all of the other prohibitions and commandments. I hold this belief in spite of the fact that my favorite modern Christian author, John Piper, who is a pastor, theologian, Christian statesman, and friend that I highly respect and with whom I rarely find disagreement, proposes a different view of the significance of one issue in an election process, writing “everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office.” (See the antecedent hyperlink for the full article and bibliographical information.)

I should also say that even the most simul justus et peccator among us vote both righteously and selfishly at the same time. As I have said elsewhere,

Preserving what we each value the most serves as the motivation for almost everyone’s vote. It would be difficult to find anyone who votes from a purely selfless stance, i.e., “this is in the best interest of the entire country.” Rather, we each vote from either a “survival” or “success” stance. Those who have experienced financial and/or material success generally care about issues that will ensure that such success is maintained. Issues of survival seem trite to them. In contrast, those attempting to survive, or to get to a certain level of social achievement—whether that is to gain the American Dream so as to get out of coal mining and Black Lung disease, to get out of a neighborhood of poorer schools and crime to the suburbs, or to keep from losing all they have earned in life—generally do not concern themselves with the issues of the successful. They want mobility, access, opportunity and aid.

What person of success would selflessly vote in the interest of those needing aid at his own expense? And what citizen simply trying to survive would vote for smaller government, although this would certainly be the wisest and best choice for any successful business owner? Yet believers are called to consider others better than themselves, to deny themselves, and to care for the poor, needy and oppressed. This calling cannot be set aside as one exercises one’s right to suffrage (”Believers at the Ballot Box,” Beauty for Ashes Magazine [July/August, 2008]).

While it might seem a contradiction for Christian African Americans to vote for Senator Obama, each of us votes with many contradictions in both the righteous and selfish hopes of having the best possible earthly government and society. Such hopes yield appointments of pro-life justices and unjust war decisions. But when we “pull the lever,” we vote our consciences, our blind spots, and unknown future actions of our candidates and those in their selected cabinets and staff. At best, going to the ballot box as believers is one great act of hope in the God who rules all things for good, who “removes kings and sets up kings,” and whose “dominion is an everlasting dominion” (Dan. 2:21; 4:34). It is best that we look to his Son for true hope, identity and justice. This is the only way any of us will stop throwing cards on the table each election cycle.

Martin Luther King's Predecessors

Richard Allen and Absalom Jones:

The Martin Luther King, Jr. of Their Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was, of course, one of the main leaders of the American Civil Rights movement. What is lesser known today is King’s training and ministry as a Baptist pastor. Even fewer people know the long history of African American ministers promoting civil rights.

That history begins with the Reverends Richard Allen (1760-1831) and Absalom Jones (1746-1818). Allen and Jones were foremost founding fathers of the African American independent churches and of the American Civil Rights movement.

Allen’s Ministry

Allen traveled extensively, preaching in Delaware and Pennsylvania. In February, 1786, he preached at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Thinking that he would be there one or two weeks, ministry needs led Allen to a settled place of service in Philadelphia.

Concerned for the wellbeing of African Americans in this parish, he established prayer meetings. “I raised a society in 1786 of forty-two members. I saw the necessity of erecting a place of worship for the coloured people.”

It was at this time that the Rev. Jones united with Rev. Allen. Their little band met great opposition, including “very degrading and insulting language to us, to try and prevent us from going on.”

Notwithstanding, they established prayer meetings and meetings of exhortation, with many people becoming Christians. Their growing congregation, still without a building, often attended services at St. George’s Church. When the black worshippers became more numerous, the white leaders “moved us from the seats we usually sat on, and placed us around the wall.”

Jones’ Convictions

It was at this juncture that one of the most noteworthy events in the American Civil Rights movement occurred. Taking seats that they thought were appropriate, prayer began. Allen describes the scene.

“We had not long been upon our knees before I heard considerable scuffling and low talking. I raised my head up and saw one of the trustees, H. M., having hold of the Rev. Absalom Jones, pulling him up off of his knees, and saying, ‘You must get up—you must not kneel here.’ Mr. Jones replied, ‘Wait until prayer is over.’ Mr. H. M. said ‘No, you must get up now, or I will call for aid and I will force you away.’ Mr. Jones said, ‘Wait until prayer is over, and I will get up and trouble you no more.’”

By the time the second usher arrived, prayer was over, and, according to Allen, “We all went out of the church in a body, and they were no more plagued with us in the church. This raised a great excitement and inquiry among the citizens, in so much that I believe they were ashamed of their conduct.”

The Birth of the Black Church

As a result, Allen and Jones birthed the first independent Black Church in the North when they hired a store room and held worship by themselves. Facing excommunication from the “mother church,” they remained united and strong.
Allen stirringly recounts the situation. “Here we were pursued with threats of being disowned, and read publicly out of meeting if we did continue to worship in the place we had hired; but we believed the Lord would be our friend. . . . Here was the beginning and rise of the first African church in America.”

Some twenty years later, when increasing numbers of African Americans could not worship without harassment in the Methodist Church, Allen and others called a conference which established the first African denomination in America. It was resolved, “That the people of Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc., should become one body, under the name of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.”

While Americans rightfully pause to remember the historic work of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is equally important to reflect on precursors to his work. The Revs. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones paved the way for heroic African American ministers to pursue civil rights, equality, and religious freedom for all Americans.

Unbelieving Atheists

Unbelieving Atheists

Mother Teresa, a decade after her death, is all the rage now. Where? None other than with atheists of all people.

What’s All the Buzz About?

And why? Because of the publication of an innocuously titled new book Mother Teresa: Come to My Light (Doubleday, September 2007).

Consisting primarily of correspondence between Mother Teresa and her confessors and superiors over a period of 66 years, the book offers insight into the inner life of a believer known mostly through her external works of mercy. The letters, many of them preserved against her wishes (she had requested that they be destroyed but was overruled by the Catholic Church), reveal that for the last nearly half-century of her life she experienced the absence of the presence of God. As the book’s compiler and editor, the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, writes, she experienced Christ’s presence “neither in her heart or in the Eucharist.”

Extravagant Dissonance of Supernatural Candor

Time Magazine labeled these new revelations, in contrast to what previously we knew of Mother Teresa, “extravagant dissonance.” The new breed of missionary atheists, such as Christopher Hitchens, is even crueler and more mistaken than Time.

Hitchens, author of the atheist manifesto God Is Not Great, recently sought to do the work of a soul physician on the soul of a believer now dead a decade. His scathing polemic claims “she was no more exempt from the realization that religion is a human fabrication than any other person, and that her attempted cure was more and more professions of faith could only have deepened the pit that she had dug for herself.”

Hitchens and his ilk make for poor psychologists, destitute historians, and bankrupt soul physicians.

Stages of Faith

From a psychological perspective, research into the nature of faith, such as that done by James Fowler in Stages of Faith suggest the opposite about Mother Teresa than what Hitchens summarily proposes. Rather than exhibiting hypocrisy or being bereft of faith, Mother Teresa, in continuing to serve Christ by serving others while experiencing the absence of the presence of God was revealing the highest level of faith. Hers was not the trust of a child, nor the blind faith of those at lower levels of belief, but the highest, deepest, and most dependent reliance.

Historical Precedence

From a historical perspective, Mother Teresa’s experience has been so common for so long that it has its own name: “the dark night of the soul.” Great believers of the past, of all shapes and sizes, types and denominations, have experienced lengthy bouts of agonizing doubts.

Amongst Catholics, to name a few, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa of Avila, and Saint Teresa of Lisieux (from whom Mother Teresa took her religious name) all endured the absence of God’s presence.

Of many representative Protestant believers, Martin Luther is a primary case study. So intangible was Luther’s Christ, that Luther developed an entire “theology of the Cross” to explain the paradox of a God who is most present in His very absence.

Thus, if unbelieving atheists wanted to harp on believing doubters, they’ve missed the boat for the past 2,000 years. If they think Mother Teresa is the first test case, then perhaps they should read not only Church history, but, heaven forbid, the Bible. Talk about candor! Historical biblical characters (think Abraham, Moses, Solomon, Thomas—the Patron Saint of Doubters—among many others) all lived lives of faith even while doubting.

Soul Physicians’ Diagnosis

So what diagnosis would or should a physician of the soul offer concerning Mother Teresa? First, it is important to recall that she did have soul physicians—her Confessors and Spiritual Directors to whom she wrote this now debated letters. Funny that they did not expose her as a hypocritical heretic.

Funnier too, that her own biographer/complier (Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, a Senior Missionaries of Charity member responsible for petitioning for her sainthood and collecting the supporting materials) gathered these letters in support of her case for sainthood.

Time Magazine put it like this. “Kolodiejchuk sees it (the characteristic stage of faith known as the ‘dark night’) in St. John's (of the Cross) context, as darkness within faith. Teresa found ways, starting in the early 1960s, to live with it and abandoned neither her belief nor her work. Kolodiejchuk produced the book as proof of the faith-filled perseverance that he sees as her most spiritually heroic act.”

Funniest of all, that the Catholic Church, attacked by Hitchens and his crowd of hateful doubters of those who doubt, did not seek to hide these letters. In fact, against her dying wishes, the Church chose to preserve these testimonies of doubt as evidence of faith.

Clinging to Christ

One need not be a Catholic, nor a Catholic apologist, nor even a Mother Teresa backer to acknowledge the psychological, historical, and spiritual realities behind the inner spiritual life of the former Agnes Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa’s birth name).

Personally, rather than taunt her for her torment, I applaud her. More than that, I identify with her. Her candor combined with her tenacious clinging to Christ gives me hope that my doubts are a severe mercy of God designed to harpoon me to His Spirit while the irrepressible tsunami of God’s absence batters my soul.

African American Christian Faith

Her clinging faith reminds me once again of the clinging faith of enslaved African American Christians. Nellie, a former slave from Savannah, Georgia sounds like a modern-day Mother Teresa with her startling candor.

“It has been a terrible mystery, to know why the good Lord should so long afflict my people, and keep them in bondage—to be abused, and trampled down, without any rights of their own—with no ray of light in the future. Some of my folks said there wasn’t any God, for if there was He wouldn’t let white folks do as they have done for so many years”.

When her mistress questions her about her faith, a slave known to us only as Polly explains her hope. “We poor creatures have need to believe in God, for if God Almighty will not be good to us some day, why were we born? When I heard of his delivering his people from bondage I know it means the poor Africans.”

Integrative Faith

Mother Teresa’s faith was not a case study in self-contradiction. Instead, she placed her faith in Christ rather than placing her faith in her faith. Entrusting her soul to an invisible Savior, the world saw Christ in her even when she could not see Christ in the world.