Taken

A few days ago, while I was watching a news program, an alert scrolled across the screen saying that an actress by the name of Natasha Richardson was severely injured in a skiing accident. I really did not pay much attention to this news bulletin. It wasn’t that I didn’t care; it was simply because, like most of us, there was far too much going on in my own life to even give this news an emotional response. Upon her death this week, it dawned on me that during a dinner, some friends were telling me about a movie that kept them “at the edge of their seats” entitled “Taken”. I’ve always liked the star of the movie, Liam Neeson, and I had determined to see it at some point. So it was ironic that it was his 45 year-old wife who was “taken” from him and their sons through this tragic accident. Let’s be honest. Nobody wants to think about death. It’s just one of those subjects that, more often than not, we all simply try to avoid discussing. It can often bring up painful memories of loved ones whose company we may still intensely miss. It’s hard to reconcile our emotions with the words of Job. The Lord gives and He can also take away what He gives, and that God still should be praised in both His provision and His removal of what He’s provided (Job 1:20 -22, KJV). This week, I’m preparing to give remarks at the memorial service of a friend who passed away last Fall. This month would have marked his 49th birthday. I can still vividly remember our discussion in April of last year. He visited from out of state and we talked about his dream of finally becoming the senior pastor of a large congregation he had worked so hard to help build for many years. Six months later, he was taken. So what’s the lesson in all this? What’s the upside in discussing such a “downer” of a subject? The lesson here is that no matter who we are the God-given life we posses will eventually be taken back. It’s during times like these that we are reminded that once we die, we will all have to report to the One who has the right both to give life and to take it. So as this year continues to unfold,...
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Chris Brown and Rihanna

I must admit, the first time I became aware of the magnitude of Chris Brown was on my way back from a ministry trip. He was on the cover of the June 2008 issue of Ebony Magazine and, because it was free, I brought two of them home for my daughters. Why? Because I wanted them to read an article in that particular issue about black women and AIDS. I figured that with Chris Brown on the cover as eye candy they would eventually digest the main meal, which was far more nutritional for their minds. Now, Chris Brown is back in my life for a reason just as serious as AIDS: physical abuse. Because of his fame, his youth, the fame of the very woman he struck (Rihanna), the time it occurred (days before they were to perform a duet at the Grammy Awards Ceremony), and the pervasive nature of this problem, Chris Brown has become a lightning rod on this subject. And once Oprah gets involved well you know it’s going to be very, very big (Oprah Speaks Out on Chris Brown’s Assault on Rihanna). Like substance abuse and sexual abuse, physical abuse transcends all cultures, ages, educational backgrounds, and even religious backgrounds. Here’s where this issue really becomes an even bigger problem: these things are just not supposed to involve Christians, right? Yet who can forget what happened on August 23, 2007, when the news reported that Prophetess Juanita Bynum was being kicked by her husband while on the ground in a hotel parking lot (Cops: Televangelist Juanita Bynum Assaulted by Husband). The televised 2003 Christian Cinderella-esque wedding, complete with an 8-karat (7.76 to be exact) diamond ring was certainly not supposed to end in a parking lot beat down four years later. This unexpected event just goes to show us how the problems of a secular society are almost always the same problems of the saintly church. We certainly need to pray more regarding this problem, given that it is very dangerous and yet can remain very private. At Pentecostal Tabernacle, we are actually in the process of launching a project that begins to address this issue. Thus, the current focus on this problem could not have come at a better time for us, but the ordeal was quite unfortunate for both Rihanna and Chris Brown. I invite your...
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America’s Unhappiest Cities

Four days ago, the Lord honored me with an opportunity to make a presentation on the Pentecostal religion as part of the training of a small group of Psychiatry Residents from the Harvard Medical School. While preparing for my presentation, I came across an article on Businessweek.com** that listed the most-unhappy cities in America. The data used to rank each city was based on the following six factors: depression, suicide, crime, divorce, unemployment, and believe it or not, cloudy days. For example, this article listed the City of Atlanta as the 10th most-unhappy city in the United States. Out of the 50 cities studied, Atlanta ranked 29th in depression, 18th in suicide, 2nd in crime, 28th in divorce, its unemployment rate was 7.7% as of December 2008, and it had experienced 149 cloudy days in 2008. The other cities listed were quite surprising to me as well, in that I always thought of some of them as bastions of fun. For example, the city of Las Vegas was listed at number seven. Regardless of whether or not I agree with this article or how the data was used, it did cause me to think about the following Scripture: Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city! (Acts 8:5-8; Message Bible) It was verse 8 that struck me. Whereas this article listed six categories to rank a city’s unhappiness quotient, this Scripture uses six words to describe what God can do for a city if His people would only let God use them for His purposes. Then came the question I was forced to ask myself: Does Pentecostal Tabernacle bring joy to Cambridge? And not just any type of joy, but a joy that comes from our Lord (Nehemiah 8:10; Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22). My prayer is that no matter what the season is—winter, spring, summer, or autumn—we as individuals and as a congregation would be a God-given transformative influence of joy to our communities and to our city. I invite your thoughts. **Note: Read the rest of the Businessweek.com article...
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Slumdog Millionaire

Last Sunday, the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” won a total of 8 Oscars and became the darling of the 2009 Academy Awards Ceremony. It’s the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, India, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”. But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating. How could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up. He tells of their adventures together on the road and of vicious encounters with local gangs. While watching these beautiful children on stage donned in tuxedos and gowns, I did not realize that some of them were literally plucked out of the slums to fill roles in the movie, in spite of having no prior acting experience. It was so heartbreaking to see the desperate poverty from which they came. And yet, now they have been on one of the grandest stages in the entertainment world. Wow! Out of all the millions of children living in such abject poverty, these few children not only got to see Hollywood and Disney World, but their families will be moved into living quarters far better than they could have ever imagined. And yet, many questions could be asked. What if they had never been chosen? What if upon being chosen, they had declined? What if the film was not nominated? The list of questions can go on and on. While sitting at your computer in a place that has electricity and running water, you may ask, “So, what does this have to do with me?” We ourselves were slumdog millionaires! We were spiritually impoverished, on our way to an eternity in hell, with no hope of our lives ever improving (Romans 7:18-24). Ever! Yet Christ came along and offered us the opportunity of a lifetime (Ephesians 2:1-10). It was the opportunity to become God’s child, and to play the perfect role for which He created us on His grandest of stages: God’s Kingdom. If we simply do what our director (The Holy Spirit) instructs us, we will receive far more than our...
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Facebook

Earlier this month, Facebook.com, the world’s most popular social networking site, which claims 150 million active users, revealed that it was granting itself permanent rights to every user’s photos, wall posts and other information, even after the user closed his or her account (Facebook backs down, reverses on user information policy). The company’s new terms were as follows: “You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time…(H)owever, you acknowledge that the Company may retain achieved copies of your User Content.” Wow! Could you imagine every crazy, idiotic, youthful (See: Alex Rodriguez’s steroid explanation), and ill-advised thing you’ve ever posted on your page being archived (kept) forever, never to be deleted? What effect would that have on your future marriage or your future children or your future employment opportunities? The ramifications could haunt you like a criminal record. Needless to say, there was tremendous protest from Facebook’s users, to the point that CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to temporarily suspend the new policy. What’s amazing, however, is that there is a far more severe version of Facebook, on which every one of us is posting information on a daily basis. This occurs whether or not we have internet access. What kind of Facebook is this? Our daily lives. And on the day we close our account, that information will not be deleted. If that weren’t bad enough, we will also have to give an account (bear the responsibility) for every word and deed we’ve posted. Yikes! Jesus said that we’ll all have to give an “account” for the words that we’ve said (Matthew 12:34-37). The Apostle Paul stated that we’ll have to give an account to God for all of our actions (Romans 14:11-12). What’s amazing is that there is far more concern about the effect of what we’ve been posting on this temporary life than our eternal life. So, what’s the solution to some ill-advised postings you and I have made in this life? Ask God to delete His file by asking for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Then, try not to post things that offend Him and that you will regret in the future. As usual, I invite your...
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Obama’s Stimulus Package (Back in the G.A.M.E.)

Unless you’ve been extremely busy or uninformed, this past Tuesday the United States Senate passed President Barak Obama’s $838 billion dollar economic stimulus package. The purpose of this economic plan is to stimulate our economy so that our country can avert heading into a depression similar to the catastrophe we experienced back in the 1930’s. Our leaders are already past admitting that we’re in an economic recession. The U.S. has been experiencing losses of approximately 500,000 jobs per month. And those statistics are real people, some even within our own congregation. No matter if consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, nobody wants to experience another Great Depression. In order to avoid repeating history, President Obama has been travelling throughout our country. He’s trying to educate the American people so that we can understand why we need such a massive influx of borrowed cash in order to stimulate our economy. We keep hearing the word “stimulus”, but what does it mean? The verb “stimulate” means “to goad (provoke to action), activate, motivate, or energize”. The thought here is that something from the outside has to be added to our economy in order to provoke it into producing more. The goal here is to activate it, motivate (move) it, and energize it, which means to get it working instead of receding. Stimulation is the means by which our country is trying to avoid depression. The same holds true with God’s Spiritual Economy (economy meaning the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., esp. with a view to its productivity). God’s community or country is called The Kingdom. God has added someone to our lives whose job is to – Goad us (1 Samuel 1:6-18), – Activate us (1 Samuel 10:6-9), – Motivate us (Acts 4:29-31), – Energize us for the purpose of averting “depression” so that we can expand His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). That person is the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). His joy stimulates us, getting us back in the game of Kingdom life by helping us to avoid depression (Nehemiah 8:10; Galatians...
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