Disposable Friendships

“Wow! Class of 2008, we came, we saw, we conquered! All of us have truly been through so much. But, we survived. As we enter into the next chapter of our lives, we must always remember that life will still be tough. We can handle it though. In fact, I say, “Bring it… I’m ready!” To all my friends, I love you very much. I thank God for all the years He let me spend with you. I will never forget you.” I woke up in the middle of the night to find these words left on our computer screen. They’re the words of my daughter who is graduating next year. The words “I will never forget you” really struck a chord with me. Growing up as a “Baby Boomer”, if the television, VCR, air conditioner, or any other household item stopped working, we would bring that item to a place for repair. Now those very items are so inexpensive that it’s much easier to simply dispose of them. Disposal may be ok when it comes to items, but far too often it seems to occur when it comes to the people in our lives, and particularly very close friends. Sure stuff happens, people grow apart, etc., etc. However, too many times our friendships seem to have become disposable. We no longer play on the same team, go to the same school, live in the same area, work at the same job, or have children in the same place. Stuff happens! Yet I believe that there are some God-given friendships that really were meant to be BFF (Best Friends Forever) that we simply dispose of because they are far more costly to repair or maintain (like an automobile) than to simply go and get a new one. And yes, at times it will take a lot of work to maintain such friendships, but the rewards will be well worth it. A month ago I received an e-mail from my college friend’s 25-year-old son whose lifelong dream is to become an actor. In the e-mail he attached a picture of himself at the premiere of the movie “American Gangster”, which starred Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. It was a “red carpet” affair and he was invited to participate though he had a very small role. He affectionately calls me “Uncle B” and I could not have been more proud of...
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Octogenarians

Octogenarians. “Octo” who? Ok’-te-je-nar’-ee-ens! An octogenarian is defined as a person between 80 and 90 years of age. In the Bible, I discovered at least three octogenarians. Instead of God retiring them, it seems like He waited until they reached their eighties to bring them into the most fruitful period of their lives. Moses was in his eighties when God decided to use him to rescue the people of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. Caleb (Joshua 14:10) started destroying giants and taking the territory God had promised him once he entered his eighties. Anna (Luke 2:37) was allowed to see the birth of Christ, which was the fruit of her sixty years of prayer and fasting, when she reached her eighties. This week we celebrate Pentecostal Tabernacle’s 80th year of existence. We’ve become an octogenarian and have entered a new season where we will begin to produce our greatest results! Hebrews 11:39-40 states, “All of them (the heroes of the Old Testament) pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised. This was because God had something better in store for us. And He did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.” (New Century Version) My dad always told me that when he was younger, the old Christians used to pray, “Lord remember the generations that are to follow us!” Hebrews 11:39-40 reminds us that we all stand on the shoulders and efforts of generations prior to us. Bishop Allen C. Miller, one of our founding pastors, had a vision to purchase our building. The next pastor, Reverend Herman L. Greene, had a vision to remodel our facility and financially organize our ministry by securing our 501C3 (tax exempt status). By God’s grace, I’ve been called to grow the ministry into what prior generations prayed for regularly but knew they would never live to see. We who are alive to celebrate 80 years of Pentecostal Tabernacle’s existence must recognize that with every goal and dream accomplished by our ministry, there are many people alive and deceased who have a right to be a part of our celebration. I’ve had the honor of knowing and serving under these two former pastors, which is pretty amazing to me. Along with them, there are many who have invested in me and Pentecostal Tabernacle to whom I will be forever...
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Every Man’s Battle

For New England, this week’s been unusually hot. The leaves are supposed to be getting ready to turn colors. People are supposed to be breaking out their light jackets or at least sweaters. But instead I’m seeing T-shirts, shorts, and sandals. I drove home the other evening from prayer service. It was eighty degrees. Eighty degrees at night! As a man, eighty degrees is not a problem during the evening. The problem is eighty degrees during the day in a city full of young female professionals and college students. Being a bishop, there’s a certain risk in writing an article like this. A person who holds such a high ecclesiastical/religious position is not supposed to admit (let alone state publicly) that when the weather gets hot like this, his best defense is to simply stay in his office. We had a guest speaker at our conference who told us an interesting story. When a national ministry wanted to hire, he declined the position saying that he could not live in Miami or Los Angeles because his human nature prohibited him from living in an environment where he would have to constantly battle visual temptation. I wanted to jump out of my pew and yell, “Finally, a Christian leader who will at least admit that the challenge even exists!” Men have a hard time expressing deep mental, emotional, or physical challenges. It’s probably looked at as “being weak.” But when you add that to the fact that we are Christian men who should be able to “do all things through Christ who gives us the strength,” then it’s even worse. We’ve got God, the Big Kahuna, on our side, so we’re supposed to be able to handle our business (that is, our walk with God in holiness). Job’s statement, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman” (Job 31:1) seems only to add to our guilt. And yet I think that our answer can be found in James 5:16. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth (accomplishes) much”. Thank God I have a men’s small group and some very close pastor friends with whom I can be real and who cover me in prayer. But as one man to another, I ask, “Who do...
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The Jena 6

Last Thursday a minister told me that her child was wearing black as an act of solidarity with The Jena 6. The Jena who? The Jena 6. I read about this case earlier this year in a magazine. Unfortunately, this is a very important issue of which most people seemed totally unaware until its recent rise in national attention. In short, it’s a court case involving six high school black male students from a small town in Louisiana called Jena. They were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder after beating up a male white student in response to: (1) Three white male students hanging three “lynching nooses” on a tree warning blacks to not hang out there. The school officials simply deemed it a prank. (2) One of the black students being beaten up for attending a party deemed only for white students. No charges were brought. Race relations and racial tensions are subjects that people are usually very uncomfortable discussing. However, we must confront these very sensitive issues because I believe that racism in the church is alive and well. A Korean pastor friend of mine confronted a large organization regarding their Sunday School curriculum’s stereotyping of Asian people. He was basically told to mind his own business. I observe across our country that though many Blacks are willing to be led by pastors who are not Black, very few Whites are willing to have a pastor who is Black. Now racism in the church is nothing new. Even in the Bible, Peter had to be confronted a number of times regarding the manner with which he interacted with non-Jews (See: Acts 10 and Galatians 2:11-14). However, you’d think that after 2,000 years, the church would have made far more progress. I believe that God’s goal has always been diversity that reflects the make up of the community. As a Black pastor, it has always been my primary goal to lead a diverse congregation. However, situations like the “Jena 6” remind me that we as a nation and “The Church in America” are going to be dealing with the issue of race for a very long time. My hope is that at least the Church will face racism head on in a manner that does not ignore its existence in the hope that it will simply go away. As usual, I invite your...
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Lessons My Dad Taught Me

Last week I was listening to a minister friend of mine on television share a series entitled “Lessons My Mother Taught Me.” This is the second time I heard a well-known minister share sermons on the same theme. The Apostle Paul made a very strange statement in 1 Corinthians 4:15. He said to the church, “You might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers.” Sadly, that’s still the case even today as we celebrate Father’s Day. Yet we should consider ourselves fortunate and blessed if we’ve had a great father or father figure in our lives. I am glad to say that I’m one of those fortunate children who has a great dad. My dad passed on four important lessons that I believe make for a good father. The first lesson he taught me was how to take care of my wife. Over forty years ago my mom suffered a panic attack which forced her to give up driving. From that moment on my dad had to drive her everywhere. Yet I never heard him complain while he patiently served my mom. This helped me when, due to a bad experience prior to our marriage, my wife did not drive for the first five years of our marriage. It was because of my dad’s example that I was able to patiently encourage my wife to learn to drive again. The second lesson he taught me was responsibility for taking care of my children. I’m the first third-generation Greene to have graduated from college even though my dad has eight brothers and sisters. I still remember my dad cashing in all his investments to make sure that I was able to go to college, something he did not have the privilege of experiencing himself. As my daughters approach their college years, I know that I will do all that is within my power to do for them what their grandfather did for me. The third lesson my dad taught me was how to be a loyal friend. This May my dad and mom celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows. I was amazed that my dad’s best man and one of his main ushers in the wedding fifty years ago were not only in the renewal ceremony but are still his good friends. I’ve watched these men go through very difficult challenges...
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