Notes from the American Baptist Biennial Session - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Some of you know that I attended the American Baptist Biennial Session in San Juan, Puerto Rico a few days ago... There are just too many notes to list them at one time. I will list them ALL periodically, but as for now..Here are some notes taken from one of the sessions. You must understand that these are notes, and some of them were simply bullet-type points. I hope you can make sense out of it!

The Facilitator Referenced Reverend Leardrew Johnson...
He Referenced Mount Olivet Baptist Church/Rochester
He talked about Transformation – "I wonder what they have done differently?"
They were singing the “Glory Patri”
They called it their “tradition” they were married to it….
He hummed the song out……. Asked questions about it…..No answer!
It was like a marriage….Gloria Patri – MOBC just kind of went together….
Upon Research - He Discovered that the tradition was handed down from the Jewish Synagogue. It's more of a Catholic practice than a practice of ours….. We don’t know…We get it…. Call it “tradition” and die on its behalf….and don’t know what we died for or of…

Many references to the tradition of the Glory Patri and its relevance and its understanding…

Who understands it….? Why?
These are the questions that this generation is asking…
And if you say, “Because we’ve always done it like that…” they leave…
They go where relevance and understanding is….
There is a generation gap….
There is a war/struggle between the two….
There must be a coming together of the two….
There must be a relinquishing of power in the worship experience….
You can feel the worship wars on Sundays…..
Young people won’t fight for it…they go where it is offered……
Notice…we have Young folks in some churches and Old folks in others…..
Which one is a growing church….?
Which one is a dying church?
What do you do about it?

June - Transforming Experience

June has been an awesome month in the life of our church. On the first Sunday; soon to be Reverend Doctor Irie Session, a Doctor of Ministries Candidate of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School was our speaker... She spoke from Nehemiah 4; "It All in Your Mind." And did she have a wonderful message? Oh my gosh she did. The second Sunday in June was what has come to be known in the life of our church as Baccalaureat Sunday; traditionally known as 12th Grade Sunday or Youth Day or Seniors Day.. At the hand of our Most Capable Youth Pastor, Winterborne LaPucelle Jones, an historical service was launched in the life of our church. Baccalaureat Sunday. Youth Pastor Jones delivered a stirring message that yet resignates with each of us who was present for the service. The third Sunday was Father's Day and members of my staff suggested that one of my many Fathers in the Ministry should speak for us; thus, Fathers Day. Reverend William Bunton of Buffalo, New York has been a Father in my life the entire twenty-five years of my preaching and pastoral ministry. He and Mom Wanda Bunton came from Buffalo and were our weekend guest. It was so wonderful having them with us. He preached a stirring message to Fathers and encouraged us to be faithful to God, our Families and our church. The fourth Sunday was another historical event in our church. It was a real YOUTH DAY. It was one done with creativity, imagination, transformation, energy, dance, drama and excitement. Youth Pastor Winterborne LaPucelle Jones at the direction of the Holy Spirit and Senior Pastor produced an amazing service. He also rendered an amazing message. I am thankful yet to God, for a wonderful church, a great growing stafff and for the transforming, creative and spirited experience thats unfolding each week in our church.

Happy Father's Day

Many outstanding Christian Men have contributed to my life and well-being as only a Father would and could do. I must be 0ne of the most fortunate African American Men in America to have had the close ties of so many men GREAT PREACHERS who thought it not robbery to make life lasting impacts in my life in my early early yesrs. Some of them have gone on to be with the Lord in the natural. In the spirit; they never die. Their works, word and witness yet live through me and others whom they invested their life. I am who I am because these men were and are who they were and are. It takes a good seed to produce a good seed. Matthew 7:18, A good tree cannot bear bad fruit not can a bad tree produce good fruit. I'm fortunate to have come from good trees. Men who loved God, loved their wives, loved their children, loved their churches, loved their lives and loved good living. I have come from a lineage of pastors who cared for their churches. They were not afraid of anything and anybody. They knew that "Right" ALWAYS prevailed... They taught me to do the right thing, think the right thing, preach right, live right and treat my family and church right. Are there any Fathers of such in 2011? Are there any Christian Men who will embrace younger men and mold them into manhood? Can you still do that in 2011? I traveled a million miles with these pastors. You didnt hear of the harmful things happening as you do today! I say to many young pastors today; "I'm glad I got in when I did." I have been in for 25 years now... It's so different. It's so much harder today than it was when I started. It's so less fun than it was when I started. And to think that these guys did it for 30 and 40 and even 50 years..... Whew.... How? I dont know.. But they did. AND... I'm glad that I have their DNA running through my veins... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY.. especially to those who have participated in me being the FATHER that I am. Pictured above: J. Alfred Smith (Oakland), James Netters (Memphis), James Tucker (Oklahoma City), R.W. Mclendon (Detroit), William Bunton (Buffalo), J.L. Payne (Memphis), Kenneth Whalum (Memphis), Clay Evans (Chicago), Melvin Charles Smith (Memphis), Jeremiah Wright (Chicago), Melvin Rodgers (Memphis).

God Understands

A young grocery chain executive parked his car on the edge of a treacherous two-hundred-foot cliff at the edge of the Pacific Ocean some twenty-five miles south of San Francisco. Devil’s Slide, it was called, and to Bill Mansdoerfer it seemed an appropriate place to plan suicide.

The next morning alone in his home, burdened with sin and guilt, the desire to take his life gripped him again. In the midst of writing a suicide note, on impulse, he went to the hi-fi and turned it on. It was turned to KEAR. What happened next has been described by doubters as a mere coincidence but to Bill Mansdoerfer it is looked upon as a miracle, a divine appointment. From the radio he heard:

God understands your heartache,
He knows the bitter pain;
O, trust Him in the darkness
You cannot trust in vain.
God understands your sorrow,
He sees the falling tear,
And whisper, “I am with thee,”
Then falter not nor fear.

The song was being sung by Flo Price and it was written by Dr. Oswald J. Smith. Comments Bill, “If that had been a preacher, I would have turned him off, but that song … it broke me.” Bill telephoned KEAR’s Station Manager. Without any preliminaries, he blurted out, “Thank God, your station is on the air. You just saved my life.” That broadcast and phone call resulted in more than that. During the next six months, the station kept in touch with Bill, and finally offered him a job as Public Relations Director. Today he not only is the Station Manager of KEAR, but as Director of Communications and Operations, he is a vital part of the six-station family radio network.

Do Innocent People Suffer??

This is one of the most difficult questions for Christians to answer. The “problem of pain,” as the well-known Christian scholar, C.S. Lewis, once called it, is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith. All true science and history, if rightly understood, support the fact of God. This evidence is so strong that, as the Bible says: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). Most atheists, therefore, without any objective evidence on which to base their faith in “no God”, must resort finally to philosophical objections. And this problem of suffering is the greatest of these.

That is, they say, how can a God of love permit such things in His world as war, sickness, pain, and death, especially when their effects often are felt most keenly by those who are apparently innocent? Either He is not a God of love and is indifferent to human suffering, or else He is not a God of power and is therefore helpless to do anything about it. In either case, the Biblical God who is supposedly one of both absolute power and perfect love becomes an impossible anachronism. Or so they claim!

This is a real difficulty, but atheism is certainly not the answer, and neither is agnosticism. While there is much evil in the world, there is even more that is good. This is proved by the mere fact that people normally try to hang on to life as long as they can. Furthermore, everyone instinctively recognizes that “good” is a higher order of truth than “bad”.

We need also to recognize that our very minds were created by God. We can only use these minds to the extent that He allows, and it is, therefore, utterly presumptuous for us to use them to question Him and His motives.

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).

“Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, why hast Thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20).

We ourselves do not establish the standards of what is right. Only the God of all reality can do that. We need to settle it, in our minds and hearts, whether we understand it or not, that whatever God does is, by definition, right.

Having settled this by faith, we are then free to seek for ways in which we can profit spiritually from the sufferings in life as well as the blessings. When you think of what grieves Jehovah God and the pain and suffering of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; have we suffered really? We may have days that are painful, that make us cry, that are not pretty and we dont look as good on those days.... but Suffering.....?? Come on! I'm not sure if any of have ever suffered a day in our life. Through it all.... we have yet so much to be thankful for! Let me speak for myself! I do!

Does God Know All Things?

I'm sitting in an Old Testament Class at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School... It has been suggested in the class that God may not know everything. Can you imagine? All of my life I have been preached to and taught that God is Omnisicient; meaning All Knowing.. I have heard and been made to believe that God knows ALL....God knows the number of hairs on your head..
God knows the the past, present and future...
God knows the strength of the hurricane....
God knows the speed of the tornado....
God knows the terror of the earthquake...
God knows the power of the volcano...
God knows the number of stars in clouds at night...
God knows what you have need of before you ask....
Listen to me.....While
Job 42:2 says; No thought can be withholden from God...
Psalm 44:21 says, For God knoweth the secrets of your heart...
Psalm 139:7-8 says, whether shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

Proverbs 15:3 says, The eyes of the Lord are in every place...

Now all of the scriptures are in line with my life long theology of God.

Now please consider the scriptures below which suggest that God may not know everything!

Genesis 3:8 says, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God..amongst the trees int he garden.

Genesis 4:16 says, and Cain went out from the presence of God...

Genesis 11:5 says, and the LORD came down to see the city and the town...

Genesis 18:9 says, God ask, where is Sarah thy wife?

Genesis 32:27 says, God asked, What is your name?

Deuteronomy 13:3 says, God proveth you, to know whether you love him

Job 1:7 says, God says to Satan, From whence cometh thou?

Hosea 8:4 says, ....they have made princes and I knew it not....

Now hear this......

God suffers.... because of us...

God suffers.....for us....

God suffers....with us...

A Wee Hour of the Morning Moment

Wow! Blogging friends... I had no idea that five whole months have past since I last spoke to you via the Blog. It's hard to imagine also that the BLOG has gotten nearly 17,000 views. But when I was Blogging daily it was getting over 100 views a day. Where have I been? Well, from January to March, I was back and forth in Memphis seeing about my sick brother Morris. Seeing about him; simply meant being there at his house or by his side in the hospital. It was really nothing that my siblings or I could really do. That would wind up being the most difficult time of my life. My brother was dying. It was nine of us and my brother was dying. Oh my gosh that was hard. That is hard. Its so hard. I got up this morning like 3:00am and went outside, stood on the deck looking toward heaven-ways with tears flowing like a river. I had no clue as to what to say to God, but only asked that He would help my sister-in-law, niece, nephews, mother, siblings and me as we are yet moaning the loss of our loved one. We all have to transition from this life to life eternity! God loves us all. He cares. He's yet loving and full of compassion and mercy. God will never leave us nor forsake us. God with outstretched hands says, I will come in and sup with you. God will give all who grieve losses of loved-ones the strenght to carry on! But in the mean time... Lord.... While you are healing, while you are coming, while you are strengthening.... I understand life now in a way that only this death could have taught me. Family is important. There is a connection there. Blood it is.. And nothing breaks that connection. Neither distance nor disputes shall be able to separate you from the connection that binds you together. Oh well.. the good thing is that I also know now that I dont have to wait until I die to see Junior again. I have so many dreams NOW that brings us right into each other's presence. And the presence is so real and so true and so us. Have you had a dream lately that brought someone and you into each other's presence? Is that not a dream to treasure? From the latter part of March to mid April there was preparation for what would be our biggest Holy Week of Sacrificial Worship yet here in Rochester. I lead a couple of Church Leadership Conferences; one in January; one in March that would start us down a path of "transformation." May and June have been meeting after meeting while writing my Doctoral Thesis at the same time. We had so many funerals from January to May that it was unreal. Things have slowed down a bit now and there is a since of relief among all of us now. A lot of people are sick and shut-in, especially in my congregation. I am in an "Old Testament" class now.... writing my Thesis.... leading the church.... taking care of my family in Rochester.... praying for my Son as he grows his "Custom Tailor" business... praying for my daughter as she prepares for life after four years at Jackson State University....praying for my middle son as he enters into ministry... (its so different now than from when I started twenty-five years ago) "I hear you Oprah.... praying for Yvonne and me as we raise our baby in our old age! :-) Well..... Believe it or not.. having a chance to tell you that I was grieving so hard and in so much pain has made me feel better. Knowing that you care enough to read this; is so comforting. You really do need people. You need love and a support system and knowing that people are praying for you... and that God is yet there! Good night folks..... or Good morning....

Happy New Year

This is a New Year.....and who of us reading this ever thought we would be here to see 2011? Remember it was supposed to be over when the bell toned at midnight in 1999. Y2K would wipe the world out as the computers had no abilities to turn with the turn of a century. 11 years later, we are here and doing rather well... I thank God for every step of the way and for every path He has allowed me to cross. I thank Him for every person that came into my life over the last years! Wow, its been so good! Stay tuned to the Blog... I have a lot of stuff to share with you! And in many cases, I need your prayers.

For starts, my brother fell today and broke four bones. He's so sick but such a trooper with his condition. Pray for him, Morris! It's so tough when sickness is in your close family and you cant be there; but such is life! The Lord is there, other family members and those of us who are not there are in prayer.

Secondly, someone outside of my home and church spoke to me in ways that came close to bringing the person that I used to be back! I stayed calm and collect! I also learned anew that the old man is not totally crucified and that certain stimuli can bring him back! Well, he didnt surface totally in me and now; I'm glad! I'm also glad because I don't owe any apologies this morning and had I said somethings that I may have thought it could have been UGLY.. But I absolutely hate being disrespected, and I know thats a part of life, but when the OTHER folks do it to me it makes me steam like the engine of a train. Racists ways still exist and in the folks who continuously act and say that it doesnt! Ahh.
Oh, Did I say, HAPPY NEW YEAR! That's all I really wanted to say for right now....thanks for tuning in to the Blog today! I love you!
Happy New Year Again..... And, as you view the year of 2011 through the eyes of faith may God give you as far as you can see!