Amos was an 8th century Prophet (760BCE-750BCE) who was given the assignment by The almighty to announce his Anger against the affluent in Israel because of their oppression of the poor and powerless. The only thing that would alleviate God's anger was fair treatment of those who were the dispossessed, the disadvantaged and the disinherited.
"Let justice roll down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream."(Amos 5:24) was God's word to the haves and have mores in Israel.
So Amos would have to travel from his home in Tekoa of the Southern Kingdom (in Judah) to the Northern Kingdom (Bethel of Samaria) to tell "what thus say the Lord..." and upon his arrival he is verbally accosted by the Priest Amaziah who served at the pleasure of King Jeroboam II.
Beloved under Jeroboam II the Poor, the weak and the vulnerable were under severe pain because of the policies of the government.
Yet Amaziah the High Priest of Israel because of his privilege, because of his position and because of his perceived proximity to power was a Pathetic Priest!
He was a pathetic priest because he refused to address the adversities of the disadvantaged because he did not want to upset the apple cart.
He was a pathetic priest because he would not use his Voice for the victimized voiceless because of his vanity and veneer of religiousity.
He was a pathetic priest because he did not proclaim God's will choosing instead to pacify the King's wants. Amaziah was a Pathetic Priest!
But Amos was a Prophetic Prophet. Amos was a Prophetic Prophet because he told God's truth instead of talking the King's trash. The Lord had shown Amos a "Plumb line" that indicated Israel was no longer Plumb. They no longer were operating according to the standards of the Sovereign of heaven. And that upset Amaziah. Amaziah ran and told his earthly master on Amos "Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all of his words."(Amos 7:10) In other words how Amos is speaking sounds harsh, it sounds hard, it is hurting our delicate ears. Yet Amos had to say it how God gave it; Amos because of Heaven's heart had to bring Light and heat to the hell God's people were under. Amos would not pamper the privileged or the people by falsely preaching "Peace, Peace, when there was no peace..." Beloved Amos chose to speak the truth anyhow even if it was an inconvenient truth.
Secondly Amos was a Prophetic Prophet because he was motivated by God's mandate and not by money. Amaziah tried to dismiss Amos as a Prosperity seeking Priest who only preached for money (Amos 7:12). Yet Amos told Amaziah that he did not preach for money and in fact he did not pick up this Prophetic ministry as he was minding his own business under the sycamore tree tending his flock when the Lord picked him out and put this ministry on him. Amos therefore chose to be God's Mouth piece to Mitigate the misery of the masses through the mercy of the master in heaven. Amos' motivation came from his eternal relationship and not an economic reward.
Ultimately Amos was a prophetic prophet because he sought God's Approval instead of Human Applause! Amaziah told Amos "don't prophesy anymore at Bethel because this is the King's sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom."(Amos 7:13) In other words do not speak the truth; do not say what the Lord told you to say; Shut up and be silent and it may go well for you. Amaziah could say that because his allegiance was to the King and not the King of Kings. But Amos was not called by the king; Amos was not called by the people; Amos was not called by the pathetic priest, Amos was called by God! Amos like the prophetic prophets before him and those who would come after him sought God's approval and not human applause.
That is why I celebrate the prophetic ministry of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. Dr. Wright has determined by his divinely designed destiny to tell God's truth instead of this countries civil religious trash. God's plumb line shows that racism, militarism, and materialism has gotten this country out of plumb.
I celebrate the ministry of Dr. Wright because he is motivated by God's mandate and not by money. Like Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. before him he has Chosen to be aligned with the almighty in his eternal relationship instead of seeking after an economic reward.
I celebrate the prophetic ministry of Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. because for 36 years he has sought God's approval and not human applause. He has not changed who he is because of where he is or who is uncomfortable. To change what God guides him to say and HOW God gives it to him to say would make him a Priest posturing for approval and that ain't him.
God deliver us from pathetic priest who posture for position with politicians; God deliver us from Pathetic priest who preach a prosperity gospel pimping the poor; God deliver us from pathetic priest who who want to please people and not be pleasing to God!
I pray that God will send us more Prophets like the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. who refuse to water down God's word because people tend to be wishy washy.
Rev. Wright stands in the sacred sagacious stream of Prophets like Amos, like Jeremiah, Like Ezekiel, Like Isaiah, like Elijah, like Elisha and like Micah who said "What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God!"
Dr. Wright stands in the biblical brook of the prophetic Black church tradition of Prophets like Bishop Richard Allen, like Rev. Harriett Tubman, like Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, like Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, like Rev. Jerena Lee, Like Rev. Dr. Vernon Johns and Like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I celebrate the prophetic ministry of Amos who was lied on and had his sermon Luped out of context (read Amos 7:10-11) to create controversy. I celebrate the ministry of Dr. Wright whose theology comes straight from the 8th century prophets and the modern prophets of the Black churches liberation gospel for the oppressed.
And I say to Dr. Wright and the faithful prophets coming after him in the words of another prophetic prophet and "Prince of Preachers" Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley, "Harder yet may be the fight, right may often yield to might. Wickedness a while may reign, Satan's cause may seem to gain [but] there is a God, who rules above with hand of power and heart of love and if I'm right he'll fight my battles I shall have peace, someday!"
James Russell Lowell says, "truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future and beyond the dim unknown standeth God in the shadows keeping watch above his own."
I say to Dr. Wright keep on preaching like the other Prophets in the bible who were lied on, lied about and lied to; Keep on giving God the glory like those same prophets who were also given grief by the diamonds and gold chasers of their day; Keep on staying true to the God who called you because that same God who kept them will keep you. That same God who told Joshua "As I was with Moses, so I will also be with you" will not forsake you Dr. Wright. That same God who took a 3 day dead Jesus who also was lied on lied about lied to and had his sermons luped out of context; that same God who rasied Jesus can still take a crooked stick and hit a straight lick; That Same God can still transform tradgedy into Triumph; That same God can still take the misery of a blues people in slavery and turn them into the miracle people of today! That same God will make away somehow!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
"Swagger Like Us"
T.I. says in "Swagger Like Us", "You kick it like me, no exaggeration necessary. Livin' revolutionary, nothin' less than legendary-Gangsta [stuff] hereditary, got it from my Dad-Flow colder than February, with extraordinary swag...No one on the corner swagger like us!"
To have swagger is to have style, to be bold, to have confidence in who you are and what you can do. It's about how you carry yourself. Swagger!
And I just believe the Apostle Paul had swagger. You know the Apostle Paul, who once was Saul, the persecutor of the Church. Saul, who stood by holding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, giving his approval. Ya'll know Paul, who once was Saul, the one who got knocked off his horse and met Jesus on a Damascus road. Ya'll know Paul, who once was Saul but who got sent by the Savior to a street called straight, where he was transformed from a thug into a theologian! Ya'll know Paul! And I believe Paul had swagger ya'll, but his swagger came from a different source than that about which T.I. raps. Paul's swagger was supplied by our sovereign Savior, Jesus!
Paul says in I Corinthians 15:58, "With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort." (The Message Translation)
Therefore, I want to suggest that for Paul swagger means "living victoriously though living through vicissitudes!" Paul starts this verse out by saying, "With all this going for us..." All what Paul? C'mon and back up with me to verses 56 & 57. Paul said, "It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!" (Message Translation)
Swagger for the Saints of God means living victoriously though living through vicissitudes, because Jesus was victorious over the things that taunted us; He was triumphant over the things that terrified us; Jesus overcame what Howard Thurman calls "The Hounds of Hell" that harassed us! Sin tries to stifle our view of self; guilt, because of sin, tries to grind our great expectations about our life into the ground; and death is determined to destroy any hope on our mental horizons! But thanks be to God for the victory through Jesus Christ. Glory to our Savior for suffocating sin, gaining the advantage over guilt, and defeating death on our behalf. You can have swagger, Saints, not because of you and your insufficiency, but because of Jesus and His total sufficiency that has stood up for us. So as Paul says.....stand your ground. Stand strong because the Savior has put steel in your back! When you have done all that you can, stand!
Secondly, swagger for the Saints of God means "being benevolently bold as a blessing to somebody else!" Paul says because of what Jesus has done for us, "Don't hold back, throw yourself into the work of the Master..." The work of the Master, as Pastor Marvin Wiley says, is "ministering to the misery of the masses through the mercy of the Master." The work of our Savior is being strength to someone who is weak through your relationship with our Redeemer. The work of the Master is boldly being a blessing to somebody else because God has bountifully blessed you! Don't let the limitations in life limit you lifting your hand to help somebody; don't let negative folks negate your confession to somebody else that God is still in command and still in control; don't let the enemy eradicate sharing your elation in the Everylasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and our Mighty God! Give God some irrefutable, unrestrained, incredible crazy praise so that someone else knows that there is a reality in serving a true and Living God!
But ultimately, swagger for the Saints means "what you do for Christ will last." Paul says, "Be confident that nothing you do for HIM is a waste of time or effort!" Beloved, all faithful labor for the LORD will ultimately be fruitful.
Be confident that bearing your cross for Christ means one day wearing a crown!
Be assured that your adversity cannot avert the Almighty's divine assistance giving you the advantage.
Be confident that your trials cannot curtail the triumph of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
What you do for Christ will last; what you do for the Redeemer will have a reward; what you do for our Liberator will lift somebody's life.
So go ahead and strut your saintly swagger; go ahead and be bold for the Balm in Gilead; be a blessing for our Burden-bearer; be joyful in Jesus, our Bright and Morning Star! Go ahead and let your light shine! The song says, "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine; let it shine; let it shine!"
To have swagger is to have style, to be bold, to have confidence in who you are and what you can do. It's about how you carry yourself. Swagger!
And I just believe the Apostle Paul had swagger. You know the Apostle Paul, who once was Saul, the persecutor of the Church. Saul, who stood by holding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, giving his approval. Ya'll know Paul, who once was Saul, the one who got knocked off his horse and met Jesus on a Damascus road. Ya'll know Paul, who once was Saul but who got sent by the Savior to a street called straight, where he was transformed from a thug into a theologian! Ya'll know Paul! And I believe Paul had swagger ya'll, but his swagger came from a different source than that about which T.I. raps. Paul's swagger was supplied by our sovereign Savior, Jesus!
Paul says in I Corinthians 15:58, "With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort." (The Message Translation)
Therefore, I want to suggest that for Paul swagger means "living victoriously though living through vicissitudes!" Paul starts this verse out by saying, "With all this going for us..." All what Paul? C'mon and back up with me to verses 56 & 57. Paul said, "It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!" (Message Translation)
Swagger for the Saints of God means living victoriously though living through vicissitudes, because Jesus was victorious over the things that taunted us; He was triumphant over the things that terrified us; Jesus overcame what Howard Thurman calls "The Hounds of Hell" that harassed us! Sin tries to stifle our view of self; guilt, because of sin, tries to grind our great expectations about our life into the ground; and death is determined to destroy any hope on our mental horizons! But thanks be to God for the victory through Jesus Christ. Glory to our Savior for suffocating sin, gaining the advantage over guilt, and defeating death on our behalf. You can have swagger, Saints, not because of you and your insufficiency, but because of Jesus and His total sufficiency that has stood up for us. So as Paul says.....stand your ground. Stand strong because the Savior has put steel in your back! When you have done all that you can, stand!
Secondly, swagger for the Saints of God means "being benevolently bold as a blessing to somebody else!" Paul says because of what Jesus has done for us, "Don't hold back, throw yourself into the work of the Master..." The work of the Master, as Pastor Marvin Wiley says, is "ministering to the misery of the masses through the mercy of the Master." The work of our Savior is being strength to someone who is weak through your relationship with our Redeemer. The work of the Master is boldly being a blessing to somebody else because God has bountifully blessed you! Don't let the limitations in life limit you lifting your hand to help somebody; don't let negative folks negate your confession to somebody else that God is still in command and still in control; don't let the enemy eradicate sharing your elation in the Everylasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and our Mighty God! Give God some irrefutable, unrestrained, incredible crazy praise so that someone else knows that there is a reality in serving a true and Living God!
But ultimately, swagger for the Saints means "what you do for Christ will last." Paul says, "Be confident that nothing you do for HIM is a waste of time or effort!" Beloved, all faithful labor for the LORD will ultimately be fruitful.
Be confident that bearing your cross for Christ means one day wearing a crown!
Be assured that your adversity cannot avert the Almighty's divine assistance giving you the advantage.
Be confident that your trials cannot curtail the triumph of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
What you do for Christ will last; what you do for the Redeemer will have a reward; what you do for our Liberator will lift somebody's life.
So go ahead and strut your saintly swagger; go ahead and be bold for the Balm in Gilead; be a blessing for our Burden-bearer; be joyful in Jesus, our Bright and Morning Star! Go ahead and let your light shine! The song says, "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine; let it shine; let it shine!"
Saturday, June 13, 2009
"It's The God In Me"
The Gospel duo Mary Mary's song "It's The God In Me," illustrates that sometimes folks may hate on your glory but don't know your story. For instance the hook in the song says, "what they don't know is when you go home And get behind closed doors man/woman you hit the floor And what they can't see is you on your knees So the next time you get a chance tell em, It's the God in me, You think I'm so fresh you think I'm so clean You think I'm so sweet It's the God in me..."
And because of the God in them the Youth and Young Adults of Trinity UCC-Gary are demonstrating that they have what the late Dr. Frederick G. Sampson called "Some Un-recorded Moments with The Master..." And On Saturday and Sunday June 13th and 14th our Youth and Young Adults are illustrating this indwelling inspiration from the Eternal One through Fellowship as Beloved Community over food and fun. They are illustrating how the subterranean streams of deep spirituality surge through their very being in Spoken Word or Nommo. Dr. Molefi Asante the father of Afri-centricity describes Nommo from the West African Philosophical perspective as "The Magic Power of The Word." Nommo he says "Refers to the powers of The word to generate and create reality." In fact John The Gospel writer another prolific African Apostle said, "In The Beginning was The Word (Nommo) And The Word (Nommo) was with God and The Word (Nommo) was God..."And our youth and Young Adults are speaking Truth into the atmosphere to create the reality God desires and demands of his children. Nommo in their Praise dance, Nommo through their Spoken Word poetry, and Nommo through Song. In fact an African Proverb says, "The Spirit cannot Descend without Song," and Song is the practice of Nommo!
Ultimately our youth and young Adults will allow The Nommo of the Preached Word to regenerate life into dead situations; Deliverance to drowning dreams; Liberation to locked up visions and Transformation to tied up and bound up lives.
All because as Mary Mary says, "It's The God In Me..." Because "Greater is He that is in You than He that is IN The World..."
It's The God In Me Nommo that "walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am his own!" It's The God In Me, Nommo that though "The lightening may flash and the thunder may role tells me to still fight on!" "Wickedness awhile may reign and Satan's cause may seem to gain, but there is a God who rules above with hand of power and heart of Love and if I'm right, [Nommo tells me] I shall have Peace Someday!"
And because of the God in them the Youth and Young Adults of Trinity UCC-Gary are demonstrating that they have what the late Dr. Frederick G. Sampson called "Some Un-recorded Moments with The Master..." And On Saturday and Sunday June 13th and 14th our Youth and Young Adults are illustrating this indwelling inspiration from the Eternal One through Fellowship as Beloved Community over food and fun. They are illustrating how the subterranean streams of deep spirituality surge through their very being in Spoken Word or Nommo. Dr. Molefi Asante the father of Afri-centricity describes Nommo from the West African Philosophical perspective as "The Magic Power of The Word." Nommo he says "Refers to the powers of The word to generate and create reality." In fact John The Gospel writer another prolific African Apostle said, "In The Beginning was The Word (Nommo) And The Word (Nommo) was with God and The Word (Nommo) was God..."And our youth and Young Adults are speaking Truth into the atmosphere to create the reality God desires and demands of his children. Nommo in their Praise dance, Nommo through their Spoken Word poetry, and Nommo through Song. In fact an African Proverb says, "The Spirit cannot Descend without Song," and Song is the practice of Nommo!
Ultimately our youth and young Adults will allow The Nommo of the Preached Word to regenerate life into dead situations; Deliverance to drowning dreams; Liberation to locked up visions and Transformation to tied up and bound up lives.
All because as Mary Mary says, "It's The God In Me..." Because "Greater is He that is in You than He that is IN The World..."
It's The God In Me Nommo that "walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am his own!" It's The God In Me, Nommo that though "The lightening may flash and the thunder may role tells me to still fight on!" "Wickedness awhile may reign and Satan's cause may seem to gain, but there is a God who rules above with hand of power and heart of Love and if I'm right, [Nommo tells me] I shall have Peace Someday!"
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