My People by Langston Hughes

The night is beautiful,

So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,

So the eyes of my people.

Beautiful, also, is the sun.

Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

Yours Because He Lives,

And He Did Not Do It

As I write this, the ambient temperature is 42 degrees. The significance of that is it’s near the end of January when that kind of temperature isn't expected. The significance of 42 degrees in January is the temptation to remove some of the weather appropriate clothing this season dictates. The significance is we caught a break.

As I think about our spiritual lives the same can be true. When things are going better than expected or when something unexpected occurs to send our spirits soaring, it's clear we've caught a break. The significance is we don't always expect a breakthrough. The significance of unexpected blessings is the temptation to remove or lighten our prayer life. After the initial Thank You Jesus; we begin to replace gratefulness with basking in the blessing. Remember how Momma told you to keep your clothes on when the weather broke so you wouldn’t catch a cold.  Bask in your blessing, but don't forget to keep your garments of praise on so your season will last.

Yours Because He Lives,

Are You Listening?

Last Sunday one of my points was to ‘obey God’. In that message entitled, “Walking in Divine Authority”, the text (Acts 5:12-42) was very clear in that response to doing the work of God. Peter said, “We must obey God, rather than human authority”. He certainly didn’t mean we must ignore the human authority God has placed in our lives. Jesus tells us, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”.

But in obeying God, you can’t be preoccupied with what man and woman is going to think. If God be for you, who can be against you! I wasn’t able to read one of my devotionals until later Sunday evening and couldn’t believe my eyes when it began with, “If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us…”

Obeying God is an evangelism moment. Others will not be able to understand how you’re able to do what you do with such ease. They will assume that you are fearless; however the truth of the matter is, “We Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Us!”

Yours Because He Lives,

Oil of Gladness

After service today, we will inaugurate the Oil of Gladness Ministry.  As you will recall, this mandate was birthed during our solidarity with churches around the state bringing attention to the senseless slaughter of African American men and boys.   

BlackLivesMatter is the call and if we believe that we must do more than say it.  We must join in declaring AllLivesMatter!  We must not only scream when the murderer is white and the deceased is black.  We must also scream when the murderer is black and the deceased is too.    

Following the decrees of Isaiah 61, it is our plan to go out into Sauk Village and cover our neighbors in prayer.  As we go armed under the anointing of the Lord, ask your friends and neighbors to join us.  If they can’t join us, then ask them to pray that the Holy Spirit invade us and that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to our Lord and Savior!

Yours Because He Lives,

How Can This Be?

This past week I read a touching yet troubling article about a child from the Englewood community who was 13 years of age. This young man was given the opportunity to request whatever he wanted for Christmas from an organization adopting him and his peers.

Do you know what he wrote? “All I ask for is for safety, I just wanna be safe”  In small print at the conclusion of his letter, he asked for a scarf, gloves, hat and school supplies.

His letter made its way to President Obama, who encouraged this young man and promised to do his best to keep him safe.

Another friend of mine who lives in a pretty affluent community shared that a friend of her daughter’s was beaten and maced over a boy at a nearby party. This is one of those, “How Can This Be?’’, in both interpretations.

So now that we’ve gotten over the shock of it all; let’s use the power God has given. Remember, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much” (James 5:16).

Yours Because He Lives,
Rev. Mel