Below I have inserted a blog from CNN's Roland Martin. Its creative and much easier than bringing a notebook. Check it out @ http://gospelfab.thefabempire.com/2009/04/21/roland-martin-no-im-not-texting-in-church/
Church for me is not a time to play around and have a swell time. I take serious my worship experience, and don’t get caught up in the hoopla of others.
In fact, one reason I prefer to sit on the front row is I don’t particularly like the distractions of folks, and with them behind me, I don’t have to see the mom smacking her kids upside the head for sleeping, the small children acting a fool, the two men or women have a conversation about what they did last night, or the other nonsense that happens in church.
So since I prefer to mind my business, I like it when folks mind theirs.
With that said, some folks have really gotten themselves worked up because they see me working my Blackberry while in church.
On Easter Sunday, I attended Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the invitation of my CNN producer. My wife and I were there, and we had a really good time. The next day, someone emailed her and was ticked that I sat on the front row and busily texted folks while in church (Even the producer leaned over at one point and asked my wife what I was doing. When told by my wife, she backed off).
The same thing happened a couple weeks ago when I was attending the 10 a.m. service at the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago. I got the following email from a fellow member:
“From one Salem member to another, do you realize that the cameras at church seem to always catch you while you are texting?
Just thought you’d like to know! On another note, keep of the good work . . . you are one to admired for your skill and talent.”
I wasn’t mad at her; she clearly was trying to apprise me of what some may think I’m doing, and they may not like it. But here was my response: “I’m not texting. I type my sermon notes on my phone. I believe in technology. I can easily send sermon notes this way, rather than writing in a tablet. I don’t worry what someone else is thinking. I focus on my relationship with God and what I’m doing in church. If they are focused on me and not the sermon, then they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing.”
See, I take notes. I used to always write them in notebooks, but with technology, I don’t have to do that now. When I was in Houston at Brookhollow Baptist Church/The Church Without Walls, a fellow member couldn’t attend Bible study, so I sent her my notes. But I had to rewrite them. Now, I can just blast an email out and it’s all good.
When I had my Treo, I also downloaded a Bible program from Laridian.com, that allowed me to have eight different versions of it. So at Salem, Rev. James Meeks uses the King James Version, and at Brookhollow, Pastor Ralph West Sr. uses the NIV. So, with one click, I can change the Bible and follow along.
I love technology and incorporate it into every aspect of my life. But I do think folks need to stay focused on the person in the pulpit and the Lord, and not what the person next to them is doing.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Beef
Greetings. My post today is to discuss a dilemma that the church is being faced with. As God's children, we are to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. But in today's church, it seems as if we have lost that portion of the gospel. In my bible it reads, "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."(Luke 14:23) We have become so focused on ourselves that we have lost the discipleship message. Church has become just an activity, but disciples is who we are. We talk so much about knowing your calling, and working in the gift that God has given. But even if you are not aware of your gift, if you are saved with the Holy Ghost, you are a witness and disciple for the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is weakening because we are reducing church to the actual building. But we have to go out and tell people about the goodness of Jesus. Tell the drug addict he is a deliverer, tell the sinner that God is a redeemer. We have to take our rightful place because the enemy is going out and trying to tear down the kingdom of God. So I beseech you my brethren, to go out and testify of his goodness and intrique someone to step out and believe in Jesus.
God Bless.
God Bless.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Can You Be Christian and Muslim?
There is no way in my mind that it is possible to believe both, but below is an article I read from cnn.com
SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Ann Holmes Redding has what could be called a crisis of faiths.
Ann Holmes Redding says she sees no contradiction in being both a Christian minister and a Muslim.
1 of 2 For nearly 30 years, Redding has been an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church. Her priesthood ended Wednesday when she was defrocked.
The reason? For the past three years Redding has been both a practicing Christian and a Muslim.
"Had anyone told me in February 2006 that I would be a Muslim before April rolled around, I would have shaken my head in concern for the person's mental health," Redding recently told a crowd at a signing for a book she co-authored on religion.
Redding said her conversion to Islam was sparked by an interfaith gathering she attended three years ago. During the meeting, an imam demonstrated Muslim chants and meditation to the group. Redding said the beauty of the moment and the imam's humbleness before God stuck with her.
"It was much more this overwhelming conviction that I needed to surrender to God and this was the form that my surrender needed to take," she recalled. "It wasn't just an episode but .... was a step that I wasn't going to step back from."
CNN Newsroom
Kyra Phillips brings you the latest news from around the world, from the CNN Newsroom.
Weekdays, 1-3 p.m. ET
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Ten days later Redding was saying the shahada -- the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Mohammad as his prophet.
But Redding said she felt her new Muslim faith did not pose a contradiction to her staying a Christian and minister.
"Both religions say there's only one God," Redding said, "and that God is the same God. It's very clear we are talking about the same God! So I haven't shifted my allegiance." Watch Redding say, "Being a Muslim makes me a better Christian" »
The imam at the Islamic Center in Seattle, Washington, where Redding prays said she brings the best of both traditions to her beliefs.
"Coming from an example of wanting to be Christ-like and coming from the perspective of wanting to follow the best example -- the example of our prophet Mohammed -- it all makes sense then," Benjamin Shabazz said.
There are many contradictions between the two religions. While Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet, Christianity worships him as the son of God.
Don't Miss
Diocese statement on defrocking Redding (PDF)
James Wellman, who chairs the department of comparative religion at the University of Washington, said that while it is not unusual for people to "mix and match" beliefs, it is almost unheard of for a minister to claim two religions.
"When you take ordination as a Christian minister, you take an explicit vow of loyalty to Jesus. It's hard for me to understand how a Christian minister could have dual loyalties," Wellman said.
Redding said she sees the theological conflicts but that the two religions, at their core, "illuminate" each other.
"When I took my shahada, I said there's no God but God and that Mohammed is God's prophet or messenger. Neither of those statements, neither part of that confession or profession denies anything about Christianity," she said.
To her parishioners and family, though, Redding has turned her back on her faith and office. There was, she said, "universal puzzlement" at her decision to convert to Islam but still remain an Episcopal minister.
"I have people who love me very much who really don't want me to do this, and I love them very much. And I would love to be able to say, 'Because I love you I will renounce my orders' or 'I will renounce Islam' ... I hate causing pain to people who love me, that's not my intention," Redding said.
The Episcopal Church also rejected Redding's religious choice.
"The church interprets my being a Muslim as 'abandoning the church,' " she said. "And that [there] comes an understanding that you have to be one or the other, and most people would say that. It simply hasn't been my experience that I have to make a choice between the two."
The Diocese of Rhode Island, where Redding was ordained, told her to leave either her new Muslim faith or the ministry. A diocese statement said Bishop Geralyn Wolf found Redding to be "a woman of utmost integrity. However, the Bishop believes that a priest of the Church cannot be both a Christian and a Muslim."
Even though she has been defrocked, Redding said she is not capable of turning her back on either faith. She said she wants to continue speaking about and teaching religion and perhaps even travel to the Hajj, a journey to Mecca that every Muslim is supposed to make in their lifetime.
Redding said she does not want her belief in two religions to diminish the value she holds for both Christianity and Islam. Each faith by itself is enough to fulfill a person spiritually, she said.
"It's all there. I am not saying you have to go somewhere else to be complete. Some people don't need glasses, some people need single lenses. I need bifocals
SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Ann Holmes Redding has what could be called a crisis of faiths.
Ann Holmes Redding says she sees no contradiction in being both a Christian minister and a Muslim.
1 of 2 For nearly 30 years, Redding has been an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church. Her priesthood ended Wednesday when she was defrocked.
The reason? For the past three years Redding has been both a practicing Christian and a Muslim.
"Had anyone told me in February 2006 that I would be a Muslim before April rolled around, I would have shaken my head in concern for the person's mental health," Redding recently told a crowd at a signing for a book she co-authored on religion.
Redding said her conversion to Islam was sparked by an interfaith gathering she attended three years ago. During the meeting, an imam demonstrated Muslim chants and meditation to the group. Redding said the beauty of the moment and the imam's humbleness before God stuck with her.
"It was much more this overwhelming conviction that I needed to surrender to God and this was the form that my surrender needed to take," she recalled. "It wasn't just an episode but .... was a step that I wasn't going to step back from."
CNN Newsroom
Kyra Phillips brings you the latest news from around the world, from the CNN Newsroom.
Weekdays, 1-3 p.m. ET
see full schedule »
Ten days later Redding was saying the shahada -- the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Mohammad as his prophet.
But Redding said she felt her new Muslim faith did not pose a contradiction to her staying a Christian and minister.
"Both religions say there's only one God," Redding said, "and that God is the same God. It's very clear we are talking about the same God! So I haven't shifted my allegiance." Watch Redding say, "Being a Muslim makes me a better Christian" »
The imam at the Islamic Center in Seattle, Washington, where Redding prays said she brings the best of both traditions to her beliefs.
"Coming from an example of wanting to be Christ-like and coming from the perspective of wanting to follow the best example -- the example of our prophet Mohammed -- it all makes sense then," Benjamin Shabazz said.
There are many contradictions between the two religions. While Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet, Christianity worships him as the son of God.
Don't Miss
Diocese statement on defrocking Redding (PDF)
James Wellman, who chairs the department of comparative religion at the University of Washington, said that while it is not unusual for people to "mix and match" beliefs, it is almost unheard of for a minister to claim two religions.
"When you take ordination as a Christian minister, you take an explicit vow of loyalty to Jesus. It's hard for me to understand how a Christian minister could have dual loyalties," Wellman said.
Redding said she sees the theological conflicts but that the two religions, at their core, "illuminate" each other.
"When I took my shahada, I said there's no God but God and that Mohammed is God's prophet or messenger. Neither of those statements, neither part of that confession or profession denies anything about Christianity," she said.
To her parishioners and family, though, Redding has turned her back on her faith and office. There was, she said, "universal puzzlement" at her decision to convert to Islam but still remain an Episcopal minister.
"I have people who love me very much who really don't want me to do this, and I love them very much. And I would love to be able to say, 'Because I love you I will renounce my orders' or 'I will renounce Islam' ... I hate causing pain to people who love me, that's not my intention," Redding said.
The Episcopal Church also rejected Redding's religious choice.
"The church interprets my being a Muslim as 'abandoning the church,' " she said. "And that [there] comes an understanding that you have to be one or the other, and most people would say that. It simply hasn't been my experience that I have to make a choice between the two."
The Diocese of Rhode Island, where Redding was ordained, told her to leave either her new Muslim faith or the ministry. A diocese statement said Bishop Geralyn Wolf found Redding to be "a woman of utmost integrity. However, the Bishop believes that a priest of the Church cannot be both a Christian and a Muslim."
Even though she has been defrocked, Redding said she is not capable of turning her back on either faith. She said she wants to continue speaking about and teaching religion and perhaps even travel to the Hajj, a journey to Mecca that every Muslim is supposed to make in their lifetime.
Redding said she does not want her belief in two religions to diminish the value she holds for both Christianity and Islam. Each faith by itself is enough to fulfill a person spiritually, she said.
"It's all there. I am not saying you have to go somewhere else to be complete. Some people don't need glasses, some people need single lenses. I need bifocals
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