Faith Based Journal 07

Faith Based Journal august 2011

INSIDE

Inspire, Inform & Educate

Bridging the Gap

7TH Edition

Our Morning Anthem

By Bob Valleau How Great Thou Art, Our Morning Anthem.

PAGE 11

Gospel Music and the Black Consciousness

By Leonard Goines Making a Joyful Noise for the Lord - An urban contemporary black religious and musical statement of rural folk origins, it is a celebration of the Christian experience of salvation and hope.

PAGE 12

Pastor Nickleberry Lilly, Sr. & MR. D-MARS

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land …” - Ezekiel 22:30 Black Churches, Black Theology and American History A Powerful Force in the African American Community.

PAGE 16

Taiese L. Nevels Nevels Publishing

Pastor James Odom Hearts of Worship

Tammie Campbell The Honey Brown Hope Foundation

First Lady Cynthia Carter Pastor Mckenzie Carter Temple of Deliverance

Praise and Worship: Release the Power of God in Your Life

By Lorene Troyer Your God Power Source for Living Your Everyday Life PAGE 23

Bishop Dixon survived this horrific accident. He is a modern day walking miracle. Alive on Purpose!

See pg. 6

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August 2011 3.

Behind The

Journal

Publisher’s Message

Keith J. Davis, Sr.

SR. PUBLISHER Keith J. Davis, Sr. VICE PRESIDENT Kevin Davis EDITING CONSULTANT Sharon Jenkins OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Stephanie Myers

Our theme for this month’s journal is “Bridging the Gap.” A gap is defined as “a break or opening.”

There is an emerging “gap” that keeps the generations from dialoging about life in our community, not just in the church, but sadly in our homes. Our mission in this issue is to share with you real life stories of how others have overcome all obstacles by faith in order to talk about viable solutions to the issues that plague our community. In the 1950’s, the African American church was the catalyst for change in the community. It is our hope that in 2011, it will again be the catalyst for change in our families.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Abbey Rodriguez

CONTENTS

ACCOUNTING MANAGER Eugenie Doualla

Charity Missionary Baptist Church, The Good Church!....................................................... 5

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Mike Jones C.T. Foster Pastor Freddie L. Davis, III Dwight Jones Eric D. Goodwine

Worship through Relationship…………………………………………………………..……...... 7

PHOTOGRAPHY

Commentary: Defending the Black National Anthem………………......................................11

L.C. Poullard

Grady Carter MARKETING CONSULTANT Johnny Ray Davis, Jr. Barbara Wiederhold MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR Andrea Hennekes LAYOUT & GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Ghuzzala Malik (Faith) Michael J. Martinez DISTRIBUTION Booker T. Davis, Jr. Johnny Ray Davis, Jr. Rockie Hayden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Karen Wolff Joyce James Tammie Campbell Bob Valleau Lyndra Vassar Leonard Golnes Ja’Mail Johnson Kayne Swain Sharon C. Jenkins Lorene Troyer Kaye Swain

Alive On Purpose……………………………………………………………………….....………. 6 The Community of Faith Is On Fire And Alive On Purpose……………………..................... 9 A New Trend: “Story Telling”…………………………………………………………………...... 10 Dr. Clifton Davis – Minister, Actor and Singer/Songwriter………….…………...................... 11 Our Morning Anthem………………………………………………………………………........... 11 Gospel Music and the Black Consciousness………………………….…………................... 12 Understanding God’s Vision……………………………………………..………...................... 15 Black Churches, Black Theology and American History……………………..........................16 The Sweet News from Comforting Bible Verses for Seniors in Psalm 92……......................16 Popular Sanguine, “The Holy Ghost Party Animal…………………..………......................... 19 The Church Bridging the Gap……………………………………………………….................. 19 Thomas A. Dorsey: The Pioneer of Gospel Music…………………..…………..................... 20 Lift Every Voice and Sing………………………………………………..……………………...... 23 Praise and Worship: Release the Power of God in Your Life……...…………....................... 23 The Sweet News from Comforting Bible Verses for Seniors in Psalm 92…........................ 24

MR. D-MARS Tip of the Month Bridging the gap between your team and management, or authority, goes a long way toward motivation.

“d-mars.com is certified with SBE, HUB, DBE & Port of Houston SBDP.”

D-MARS.com Business Journal 7322 Southwest Fwy, Suite 805 Houston, Texas 77074 713-272-9511 . Phone 713-272-6364 . Fax 1-800-453-8752 . Toll Free www.d-mars.com

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August 2011

August 2011 5.

Charity Missionary Baptist Church, The Good Church!

Pastor K. Nickleberry Lilly, Sr.

college tuition because the “church” is taking care of the bill.

They are encouraged to attend a Historically Black University (HBU) in Texas, such as TSU, Prairie View, or Wiley and pursue academic excellence as their investment in this unique collaboration. The church members tithe into the church storehouse to later withdraw, to invest in their children’s education.

We are talking about “all” of your children, not just

the young people in their church. By empowering the next generation, they stop this cycle of genocide that is often the norm in the inner city of Houston.

This church has a history of performing community service. For the upcoming school year, the church will do 100 haircuts for $1.00 each and give away 100 pair of tennis shoes. (Distribution is to be announced and will be held on any day but Sunday during service

“Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. How could anyone know where Christ is and what faith is in him unless he knew where his believers are?”

- Martin Luther What is a good church? It’s Charity Missionary Baptist Church.

This “little old fashioned church in the city” is shepherded by Pastor K. Nickelberry Lilly. It is a little church that has a power packed mission: educating the youth in its congregation. Malachi 3:10 states Bring all the tithes into the storehouse… Well members of this church who are in good standing, miss no more than five Sundays a year, and faithfully tithe are investing in the lives of their children when they bring their tithes to Charity Missionary Baptist Church. When the children of this church graduate from High School, they don’t have to worry about student loans or paying

and came to the rescue. It is rumored that a lady of the Samaritan woman at the well persuasion was the bearer of the pastor’s predicament.

He recruited patrons from his hotel, and they came to the church and served the homeless Thanksgiving dinner. The hotel owner brought over one, taking advantage of a “free” college education.

It’s a divine plan straight from the Father in heaven.

The “why” behind

this strategy is wrapped in the mission of the church to eliminate generational poverty and the perpetuating sting of incarceration.

Education and hard work is the cornerstone of the hope its members have for

times.) They have a free legal clinic the 2nd Saturday of each month for consultation and advice from Attorney Allecia Lindesey Pottinger. They also feed the hungry once a month.

The destitute come to the church for one of the 150 dinners or can get a meal on the street. They also serve food on Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Speaking of feeding the hungry, there is a modern day miracle that happened within the walls of “The Good Church.” The church decided to feed the hungry on Thanksgiving and the turkeys were late.

The church volunteers, couldn’t stay because it was a holiday and the pastor was left alone with all the Thanksgiving fixings and no meat. A hotel owner down the street heard about the pastor’s plight

his own cooked turkey and duck to make it complete.

The women who became servants of the Lord that day, not only served food, but walked signs advertising the “free” dinner up and down the street in front of the house of worship and grabbed a grocery store basket and took food to those who could

not come to the church to eat. There was a miracle at 4815 Reed Road that day, all because the love of a small church extended into the community around it. If you are looking for a church where miracles still happen, try Charity Missionary Baptist Church, you’ll be glad you did.

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August 2011

Alive On Purpose

O

n Sunday July 10, 2011 we witnessed the uncommon, it was the kind of experience that can be difficult to duplicate; the experience was nothing short of amazing! The place was The Community Of Faith, and they were in celebration mode. As it turned out, this was the day that the church would be celebrating Bishop Dixon’s 33rd Preaching Anniversary. As an added bless-

ing they would celebrate the fact that he is still alive, after a near fatal automobile accident; but more about this later.

The Church was well attended, the atmosphere was glorious, those in attendance were some of Houstons most influential people, beginning with Pastor Emeritus William A Lawson of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church who spoke regarding Bishop Dixon’s 33 years of Preaching he noted that Jesus spent 33yrs on

the earth and during His 3 year ministry he did much, but there was “one main thing” Jesus had to do before He left. Lawson said to Bishop Dixon “God spared your life because you have not done the main thing”. Others in attendance were Representative Sylvester Turner, Rev. Al Edwards, Stephen Costello and wife, Leona Daniels, Council Member Melissa Noriega, and her husband Rick, Rev J.J. Williams (KWWJ), Council Member Wanda Adams, Mr

Howard Jefferson, Anthony Valary, Jacaryous Johnson and Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee; those who spoke shared the same sentiments, thanking God for sparing his life and honoring Bishop Dixon for his years of service to the church and to the community.

It’s amazing what the grace of God can do in your most vulnerable moment; Bishop James Dixon found himself there. On Wed June 16, 2011, this Pastor,

and community leader was in a near fatal automobile accident, but God protected and preserved his life. He had to literally be pulled from the wreckage. The damages to the vehicle were so severe; first responders had to use the Jaws of Life as an instrument for rescue. In his sermon “Alive On Purpose Bishop Dixon said he cried out for help but no one heard him, he noted that sometimes God will allow you to be at a place where He is the only one you can depend on. While Bishop Dixon preached there were pictures of the Cadillac Escalade being shown, both the damages and survival are indescribable. When you see the wreckage from the natural eye, you question how anyone could survive this kind of accident? The conclusion of the matter is; this man and messenger of God is a walking miracle, and Bishop Dixon vehemently exclaims that he is Alive On Purpose.

Bishop Dixon said “I needed that wreck” he went on to say...” sometimes it takes a

wreck, for God to remind us of our true calling and purpose.

This accident has been revealing in more ways than one.

It reinforces the fact that life is precious and must not be taken for granted. He is a miracle messenger; deemed as such, because a miracle changes you and your message, not only does it transform your character, it also transmits more content. In other words it adds to your life, instead of taking something away. Each miracle brings with it a degree of power, your life become more of a testament to the existence and the glory of God; even through your sufferings. God’s decision to preserve and protect Bishops life is accounted to God’s purpose for his life. God’s will for his life is mightier than the devil’s intention.

As God would have it, He has used Bishop D to pull many from their own personal wreck-

age; this voice of empowerment has been instrumental in reaching, rescuing, restoring, and repositioning families and otherwise. When you speak to him one on one, you are sure to leave with a word that will empower your life. Bishop’s contemporary and long time friend Pastor Brown says “He is devotion in motion!”

Bishop wrote a Stellar nominated song entitled On Broken Pieces, literally or not, Bishop Dixon is now being encouraged by his own inspiration. The first verse of the song went like this: “In a place of recent tragedy, we have the choice to make Will we fade away like melted snow, will we bend or

will we break We will never forget the day we lost, nearly everything we had We’ll find the strength to kneal and pray, when our hearts are cold and sad Chorus: I am convinced we can build on broken pieces I am convinced that we can live on broken pieces We can’t keep counting on the things we lost We must count what we still have It may not be much, but it is enough When you add the grace of God One can only imagine the thoughts and emotions transpiring from this anointed man of God. The reflecting of such can be haunting, and can affect you psychologically and at the same time they can be humbling.

Bishop said “Don’t feel sorry for me, my physical man is try-

ing to catch up with my Spirit” Bishop Dixon is a fighter!

If I know him, he’s going to press his way through. His resilience is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He has a “ROCKY” like disposition. Every time he gets knockeddown, he gets right back up. His name can get dragged through the mud, he gets right back up! People who are close to him, can walk off, but he gets right back up! Sunday after Sunday he preaches the word! He gets right back up! Pulled from the wreckage but Bishop D got right back up! Bishop Dixon is alive on purpose, living to fulfill and do that one main thing that God would have him to do.

August 2011 7.

Worship through Relationship Are You Seeking God’s Face or His Hand?

By Karen Wolff, Contributing Writer

Have you ever spent time with one of your kids where all you did was just “hang out?” If you have grown kids, and you ask them what they remember most about their childhood, I would bet they recall a time where you spent an afternoon participating in some fun activity.

As parents, it sometimes takes a while to discover that the thing our kids want most from us is our time. But oh, time always seems to be the thing we find in short supply.

I remember when my son was about 4 years old. He attended a local preschool, but it was only a few mornings a week so, very often, I had this four year old who wanted my time. Every day, all day.......

So I played board games with him in the afternoons. I remember he and I would always claim to be “Champion of the World” when one of us would win. Of course, beating a 4 year old isn’t exactly something to brag about on my resume, but nonetheless, I always made sure the title passed back and forth ... sometimes.

My son and I both fondly recall those days as very special times when we built a relationship.

And the truth is I had a hard time saying “no” to my son after all that relationship building. I knew my son wasn’t hanging out with me just for what he could get me to buy him, but the relationship we built meant that when he did ask for something, my heart was more than willing to consider it.

Why is it so difficult to see that as a parent, God is no different? There are some who see God as a giant Santa Claus. You simply submit your wish list and wake up one morning to find that all is well. They fail to realize that relationship is everything. It’s the one thing God wants more

than anything else. And it’s when you take the time to seek God’s face, which is simply that ongoing relationship with Him that He extends His hand because His heart is open to hear all you have to say.

A few weeks ago I read an amazing book called, “Daily Inspirations for Finding Favor with the King”, by Tommey Tenney.

In this book it talks about the importance and relevance of Christian praise and worship in building a relationship with God. What impressed me was the author’s insistence that praise and worship must be directed to God’s face and NOT His hand.

If your motive is to love God, to spend time with God, to truly want to be in God’s presence, then your praise and worship will be met by God with open arms.

If, however, your motive is to try to earn a blessing, or to impress those around you, or even to fulfill some sense of obligation, you’ve missed the boat, completely.

So how do you know if your relationship with God is centered on His face or simply His hand?

What can you do to make sure your motive is pure as you praise and worship God? *Spend most of your time with God in praise and worship. Letting God know how much you love and appreciate Him never gets old to God. In fact, praise and worship is the key that opens God’s heart. *Come to God just as you are with an open heart.

Letting God see ALL that’s in your heart, good or bad, lets God know that you value your relationship enough to let Him see it all and allow Him the opportunity to do whatever He needs to do. *Look for opportunities to offer God praise and worship in the things around you. All you need

to do is see a beautiful sunset or one of the many other wonders of nature to offer God praise and thanksgiving for that miraculous blessing. God appreciates a grateful heart. *Don’t be afraid to show God how you truly feel as you worship Him. There are those who don’t feel comfortable raising their hands or showing any emotion during worship services. Yet those same people can be found at sporting events or concerts whooping, clapping, and hollering as if it really mattered.

I’m not saying you have to jump up and down or shout, but simply standing with open hands shows God that your heart is open and you want to feel God’s presence. And most importantly.... *Don’t judge, look down on, or criticize someone else because they want to show emotions and energy as they worship. Just because you aren’t in the same place in your spiritual walk as they are doesn’t mean what they’re doing is inappropriate or wrong.

Concentrate on worshiping God yourself so your focus remains on building your own relationship with Him. Christian praise and worship can be one of the most powerful ways to help you build your relationship with God. There is nothing better than feeling the love, peace, and acceptance that you feel when God’s presence is all around you.

But just remember, like a parent, God is looking for that ongoing relationship. When He sees your open heart and your desire to get to know Him for who He is, His heart opens to hear all you have to say.

What a concept...... seeking God’s face and then feeling the blessings from His hand.

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August 2011 9.

10. August 2011

A New Trend: “Story Telling” way to express themselves in whatever manner acceptable in our society.

While this method of teaching does release a freedom of expression and creativity, it can also be a deterrent to reading.

Some have even gone to the extreme of proving how insignificant spelling is by constructing tests that show reading a sentence is possible without correct spelling. Texting has validated this. Example: “Lts

Most may not know it, but for the past few decades there has been a subtle “dumbing down” of our children in the areas of grammar and spelling. An audio-visual generation has been created.

In many schools, it is not important that a child knows how to spell or properly construct a sentence. They are being told that they need only think, create new ideas and find a

go shppng tmorrw at the mll!” is clearly understood and readable by most.

Someone could also read it as, “Let’s go shipping tomorrow at the mall,” bt it wld not mke mch snse.

As a result, reading is less important and our children are more audiovisual. They want to see and hear an adventure or a book, rather than read it for themselves. This generation is very astute in their ability to remember and verbal-

ize— though they may not be able to spell or recognize the words they use in everyday conversation.

In bible days, people told stories. These stories were passed down from generation to generation.

Before the Bible was formally written, stories about the patriarchs and the acts of Jesus were simply told. People did not read about them. Yes, scholars through scribes and Rabbis had access to scrolls and manuscripts, but the general public did not read about Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were told what happened.

Because not wanting to read is on the rise and illiteracy is still prevalent, to reach the lost, God is re-directing many evangelistic ministries back to “story telling.” People are listening and understanding the Word of God through an animated, exciting re-enactment of the scriptures by a story teller.

They are coming to believe

that what is said in the scriptures is true! This new trend of presenting scripture affords all who cannot read the chance to hear the scriptures in the form of storytelling. Storytelling is currently happening in countries such as Africa and Haiti. (Jerry Wiles of Living Waters Ministries, Houston, Texas).

In an article written

by Oliver Thomas in USA Today , he points out that non-believers in the USA is up 15%, and in Europe, nonbelievers are the majority. He also writes, “A hundred years after the crucifixion of Jesus, Christians still preferred spoken remembrances to the cache of writings that would become our New Testament. Think of your own family reunions here. Do you prefer reading about your ancestors or speaking directly with

those elder friends and family members who actually knew—or could recall stories about your greatgrandfather?”

There is a trend of “story-telling” moving across the globe to reach the lost.

People want to hear about our personal experiences with Jesus Christ, and about the scriptures in the form of storytelling. This generation wants to listen to a story-teller who has a free-flowing, natural style of ministry and not to professional preachers and teachers. To help bridge the gap created by illiteracy and this audio-visual generation, and reach the lost, we must become storytellers of the scriptures.

Joyce James, Th.S.

Sr. Pastor, Total Man Christian Center Email:

totalmanchurch@yahoo.com

Dr. Clifton Davis-

August 2011 11.

Commentary:

Defending the Black Minister, Actor and Singer/Songwriter National Anthem

Celebrates Honey Brown Hope Foundation’s 20th Anniversary

Tammie Campbell The Honey Brown Hope Foundation The Honey Brown Hope Foundation, a local non-profit, will mark its 20th Anniversary with an evening of celebration on Saturday, August 13, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. at Houston Community College (HCC)-Central Campus, 3100 Main | Houston, TX 77002. The event’s theme is “With Hope and Faith, We’ve Come This Far.” In conjunction with the Foundation’s 20th Anniversary, the organization

will honor 20 exceptional community leaders (view honorees on left) for their leadership abilities, career achievements, civic responsibility, wise judgment and positive impact upon our nation.

The invitation only V.I.P. award ceremony will be held from 6:307:30 p.m. in HCC’s Seminar B. Immediately following the 6:30 p.m. award ceremony, the 20th anniversary celebration will start at 7:30 p.m. in HCC’s Auditorium.

The guest speaker for the anniversary celebration is Dr. Clifton Davis, who is best known as the star of the series “That’s My Mama.” A real life minister, Davis also portrayed a minister on the prime time series “Amen” and is featured on a regular basis on TBN network.

Before finding fame in acting, Davis worked as a songwriter, most famously penning The Jackson 5’s #2 hit “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

“It takes a village to raise a child and a village

to support those who are working for the betterment of our youth,” says the Foundation’s founder/ executive director, Tammie Lang Campbell. “That is why we are grateful for the support of our honorary co-chairs: Former Mayor Lee P. Brown and D’Artagnan Bebel-Vice President and General Manager of Fox 26 KRIVTV and MY 20, our guest speaker: Dr. Clifton Davis, our 20 outstanding Citizen Improving America Award recipients and our countless supporters who help make the Foundation’s programs possible.”

Proceeds from the event will benefit the foundation’s ongoing educational, cultural literacy, environmental stewardship and diversity appreciation programs. For additional information about 20th Anniversary event and the Honey Brown Hope Foundation, visit www.honeybrownhope.org.

Foundation 1991-Present At the Honey Brown Hope Foundation, Hope for the future is alive, Hope is what we offer and Hope is what we nurture in young people.

Under the leadership of its Founder/Executive Director, Tammie Lang Campbell, the Honey Brown Hope Foundation has collaborated with learning institutions and other organizations to provide: writing, cultural literacy, voter empowerment, multicultural literature, drama, character building, environmental awareness and diversity appreciation programs.

Website:

www.honeybrownhope.org

Phone: 281-499-7966

For Immediate Release Contact: Shar-day Campbell

honeybrownhope@verizon.net

About the Honey Brown Hope

281-499-7966 (o) 713-854-4141 (c)

awe of God’s magnificent splendor. God never ceases to amaze us. His creativity transcends our ability to communicate its true value. And this is only what we are able to see, hear, feel, taste and smell in this world. We cannot imagine what He has prepared for us. “No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (2 Corinthians 2:9, NIV).

“How Great Thou Art” encourages and inspires generation after generation. When we hear or sing the song, our problems pale in comparison to God’s power. They become like vapors that appear out

of nowhere and vanish just as suddenly. Therefore, this song should be every Christian’s morning anthem and creed in times of need.

“How Great Thou Art” reminds us that although God is the Master Designer of everything, He still cares what happens to you and me. As another favorite song, “How Big Is God,” says: “He’s big enough to rule His mighty universe, yet small enough to live within my heart.” In our finite minds, God cannot get much greater than that.

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (Psalm 145:3, NIV).

Our Morning Anthem

By Bob Valleau, Contributing Writer

Elvis Presley soulfully sang this spine-tingling song. Carrie Underwood recorded her spirited version of it as well. Many of us have belted it out in our churches. “How Great Thou Art” ranks second,

after “Amazing Grace,” as favorite hymn of all time -- and its history is as rich and colorful as its lyrics.

However, the song can barely describe God’s majesty. It merely reflects what any of us can do: stand in

By Lyndra Vassar, Contributing Writer

Despite its empowering lyrics, Professor Timothy Askew sees a different message in the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written by poet James Weldon Johnson. Askew, an Associate Professor of English at Clark University in Atlanta, recently told CNN that he loves the song, but its label as the “Black national anthem” makes him feel “tension and confusion.”

After researching the spiritual as a Yale graduate student, Askew decided that the song’s “national anthem” label spurs separatism rather than unity. He goes on to say that eliminating the song’s “Black” label would promote racial cohesiveness and a victorious message for all ethnic groups, not just AfricanAmericans. “To sing the ‘Black national anthem’ suggests that Black people are separatist and want to have their own nation,” said Askew to CNN. “This means that everything Martin Luther King Jr. believed about being one nation gets thrown out the window.” And that’s exactly where he lost me. While “Lift Every Voice and Sing” conveys a hopeful message many relate to, the song was birthed under the oppression of Black people in segregated America. It’s a song derived from a poem written by James Weldon Johnson, a Black poet, in 1900.

In 1920, the NAACP, then chiefly a Black organization, adopted the song as “The Negro National Anthem.” And a chorus of 500 Black children first performed the song during a celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in Jacksonville, Florida. The song sprang into churches throughout the country and became a staple tune of the Civil Rights Movement. Even Johnson himself swelled with staggering pride at the song’s celebration of Black struggle and triumph. In tears, he scrawled the anthem’s final words, then admitted, “I knew that, in the [last] stanza, the American Negro was historically, and spiritually immanent; and I decided to let it stand as

it was written.” So yes, although the song doesn’t literally reference ethnicity, it was written to preserve the spirit and culture of Black people.

What better way to uphold Johnson’s mission than through a Black national anthem? And how does honoring this historical linkage promote separatism? In reading Askew’s comments, I was immediately reminded of the same double-edged “Black” versus “American,” “them” versus “us” paradigms folks loves to carve out for people of color. Being a proud Black person, means being a disgruntled American. Hitting a high-note in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” means a stiffened upper-lip during the StarSpangled Banner. It simply does not have to be this way. Askew’s perspective on the anthem bears all the rotten fruits of a man who clearly misunderstood the complexity of his own race: celebrating your heritage does not make you separatist or un-American.

It just makes you proud.

Maya Angelou sang the Black National anthem at her eighth grade graduation and had a teary-eyed realization. “I was no longer a member of the proud graduating class,” writes Angelou in her 1969 memoir, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing.” “I was a member of the proud, graduating, negro race.” In 1990, singer Melba Moore released a modern rendition of the song, which she recorded with artists including Anita Baker, Stephanie Mills, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Brown, Stevie Wonder and Howard Hewett. And Joseph Lowery, civil rights icon and minister, referenced a “God of our weary years, God of our silent tears” during an impassioned benediction for President Obama’s inauguration.

The song was honored in congress and remains powerful not because it excludes but uplifts. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a constant reminder of our stalwart perseverance and that Black history, no matter how fraught, is part of the American narrative.

12. August 2011

Gospel Music and the Black Consciousness

By Leonard Goines, Contributing Writer

Black gospel music grew out of the late 19th and early 20th century folk church and is essentially created in a context of individual and collective spontaneity. As a total manifestation, black gospel can be viewed as a synthesis of West African and Afro-American music, dance, poetry, oratory and drama. An urban contemporary black religious and musical statement of rural folk origins, it is a celebration of the Christian experience of salvation and hope. According to gospel singer and historian Pearl Williams Jones, it is at the same time, “a declaration of black selfhood which is expressed through the very personal medium of music.” Though gospel music has exerted a great deal of influence on today’s popular music forms and styles, it has been an underground or counterculture body of music for most of its sixty years of existence. As a result, it is among the least understood of the many black cultural expressions.

Music in traditional African culture served as a powerful instrument of psychological actions, a means of communicating with the supernatural, as well as a means of conveying an interpretation of the external world and expressing a particular world view. Music geared toward a ritual or magic action, toward a psycho-physiological action creating states of trance, or else toward the development of an emotional climate designed specifically to calm or stimulate, will, of course, be based on elements that are utterly different from those of music which is principally concerned with aesthetics in a more or less abstract form. It is quite impossible to judge one of these musical conceptions utilizing the criteria of another.

Like the spiritual which preceded it, gospel is a testament to both the continuation of significant elements of an older world view among black Americans and also to the perpetuation of a strong sense of community. The process by which these musics were created allowed for simultaneous individual and communal creativity. Furthermore, their overall form and design provided simultaneous outlets for individual and communal expression.

The antiphonal structure, the call-and-response pattern which is so much used in African and Afro-American music, for example, places the individual in continual dialogue with his community. This permits one both to preserve his or her voice as a distinct entity and to blend it with those of the other members, thus presenting a potential outlet for

individual feelings while allowing one to bask in the warmth of assumptions shared by the group.

Though some confusion exists in reference to gospel music and its relationship to the spiritual, it is perhaps wise at this point to mention some important differences. Spirituals are a product of the slave experience in the United States and have been passed down largely through oral traditions. Gospel music, as we know it today, on the other hand, dates back only to the mid-twenties and are in most instances an arranged or composed music. Secondly, unlike the folk spiritual, gospel music utilizes instrumental accompaniment as an integral part of its performance. These accompanying instruments range from piano and organ to percussion instruments such as drums and tambourines to complete brass bands.

In much the same way that classic and city blues replaced country blues as blacks migrated in large numbers from the rural areas to the cities, gospel music was created to more adequately reflect a new environment, psychological stance, and religious consciousness. As blacks traveled from rural to urban environments after the First World War, they found that music which was appropriate in their country setting, did not completely meet their new urban needs. Consequently, religious music such as hymns, anthems, and spirituals were supplanted by gospel, which was a highly expressive, joyful type of music characterized by improvisation and instrumental accompaniment.

It was within the context of a sharpening dichotomy between “church music” and “street music” that gospel song developed.

The incomplete distinctions and blurred barriers constructed to separate the two have been problematic throughout the AfroAmerican musical experience. A division between sacred and secular was not a part of the African world view as it is in the West.

The early Holiness churches were the churches where these amalgamated sounds first became prominent around the turn of the century. It was here that Charles Albert Tindley’s creations, which were neither spirituals nor hymns, but prototypes of the gospel songs of the post-World War I years, were first used.

During the same time that many black churches were seeking respectability by banning the shout, fostering more sedate hymns and concretized versions

of the spirituals, and in general discouraging an enthusiastic approach to religions, the Holiness churches constituted a revitalization movement which emphasized healing, spirit possession, speaking in tongues, gifts of prophecy and religious dance.

In a musical sense they reached back to the traditions of the slave past and out to the rhythms of the secular black musical world which surrounded them. They drew not only the sounds of ragtime, blues and jazz into the church but also the instruments on which they were played.

Drums, tambourines, triangles, guitars, saxophones, trumpets, trombones, double basses and anything else that seemed musically appropriate were used to accompany the singing, which served such a central functions in their services.

Charles Albert Tindley, a Methodist minister and the pio-

neer gospel song creator, began composing his first songs in the early 1900’s. The composer of such hymns as “Stand By Me,” his songs moved into the black sacred oral tradition, with the most famous titles being sung in the various black gospel singing styles - solo, duet, quartet, ensemble and choir.

Thomas Dorsey, often called the father of gospel music, was greatly influenced by Rev. Tindley, Dorsey, or “Georgia Tom” as he was called when he was Ma Rainey’s piano accompanist, began composing religious music in 1921 after becoming a member of the Pilgrim Baptist Church of Chicago. Having been deeply moved by the singing of one of Tindley’s songs entitled “I Do, Don’t You,” he was overcome by a desire to write music that would similarly inspire others.

The composer of over 400 songs which include “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “We Will Meet Him In The Sweet Bye and Bye,” and “When I’ve Done the Best I Can,” he wrote free-swinging religious songs with driving rhythms and blues-like melodies which combined religious music with the popular style of the day. Over the years he inspired many gospel singers and was responsible

for the organization and development of numerous gospel groups.

Though Dorsey retired from the world of the blues in 1929, this basic root material permeated everything that he later composed. “Blues is a part of me,” he said, “the way I play piano, the way I write.” “I was a blues singer, and I carried that with me into the gospel songs.” “I started putting a little of the beat into gospel that we had in jazz. I also put in what we called the riff, or repetitive (rhythmic) phrase.

These songs sold three times as fast as those that went straight along on the paper without riffs or repetition.” Dorsey’s lyrics were imbued with the hope of the Christian message and his music was gleaned from the entire black world around him. Many of his great successes became popular during the Great Depression. “I wrote to give them something to lift them out of that Depression,” he stated. “They could sing at church but the singing had no life, no spirit...We intended gospel to strike a happy medium for the down-trodden.

This music lifted people out of the muck and mire of poverty and loneliness, of being broke, and gave them some kind of hope anyway. Make it anything but good news, it ceases to be gospel.”

Gospel singing style is a performer’s art. It is a method of delivering lyrics so demanding in vocal skills and technique that it’s performing process, like that of the jazz musician, is highly spontaneous and intuitive in approach. The greatest gospel artists, therefore, are usually born close to the source of the tradition. Though these highly aesthetic standards are evident in the performances of many of the best-known gospel singers, such as the late Mahalia Jackson, the late Clara Ward, Reverend James Cleveland, and Alex Bradford, among others, they can also be observed in many obscure and unknown gospel churches throughout the United States.

During the 1930’s the gospel movement was centered in Chicago, where the organization of gospel groups and choirs was encouraged by many churches, usually of the storefront type. Blacks who migrated to the North could not afford to build or purchase churches; consequently, they molded their houses of worship out of the low rental ghetto stores that became as plentiful as the Depression engulfed the nation.

By 1940 gospel music has been accepted on a national scale. Singers like Sister Rosetta

Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson, made a great many records during the forties. This added greatly to the rapid spread and growth of gospel music; as did the organization of many traveling gospel groups such as the Kings of Harmony and the Thrasher Wonders.

Probably the best known of the gospel singers is Mahalia Jackson, who achieved worldwide fame as a result of her 1953 concert appearances throughout Europe and the United States. Long a familiar voice to black audiences, but introduced to the critics in 1950 by Marshal Stearns at a special session of the Newport Jazz Festival, she went on to become gospel music’s leading recording star and a concert artist of international stature. Billed as “The World’s Greatest Gospel Singer,” her first single gospel record, “Move Up a Little Higher,” sold over eight million copies after its 1953 release.

Though religious in origin, the gospel has had a tremendous influence on many areas of popular music - from soul to countrywestern. Around 1954, for example, Ray Charles blended the blues and gospel music and came up with one of our most distinctive soul sounds. One of his first big hits was created when he took the gospel hymn, “My Jesus is All the World to Me,” and rewrote it as “I Got a Woman.”

The gospel singing style, characterized by special vocal timbres and sonorities, is to a great extent the essence of soul music. A large number of our leading soul artists began their musical careers as gospel singers, pianists or organists performing various musical functions in Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal churches. This impressive list includes, among others, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.

There are two basic sources from which the aesthetic ideals of gospel singing have been derived.

These are the free-style collective improvisations utilized by congregations in the black church and the black gospel preacher’s rhetorical solo style.

Since the beginning of their history in the plantation praise houses, black preachers have utilized folk poetry and the vivid phrase to excite the emotions and involve the participation of their congregations. Possessing special oratorical skills marked by a calland-response format and punctuated with groans and gestures, these master preachers have been able to create an aura of excitement and hope rarely equaled.

It has been said that gospel has distilled the aesthetic essence of the black arts into a unified whole. This might well be true.

Few people can experience gospel in its true cultural setting and fail to hear black poetry in the black preacher’s sermon. Nor can they fail to see drama in the emotion-packed performance of a black gospel choir interacting with its congregation; nor fail to see dance in the gospel shout.

August 2011 13.

14. August 2011

Understanding God’s Vision

working towards it. So let’s break down what God said.

Step 1:

By Pastor Ja’Mail Johnson At The Word Church Vision is of the utmost importance. So why is a vision so important to us? Well... the bible says “Where there is no vision the people perish... Proverbs 29:18” and in Habakkuk 2:2 it instructs for us to write the vision down and make it plain. Here at The Word Church we’ve written it down and it is plain. Our vision is 4G and we invite everyone who partners with us to live the 4G experience as we Gather, Grow, Give & Go! Without a vision we struggle, we lose hope, we die... This article is about realizing what vision is about. Because without it’s hard to move forward with progress.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) once said, “All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to the day to find it was all vanity.

But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for the many act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible...”

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines vision as: Something seen in a dream, a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation. A thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination. A manifestation to the senses of something immaterial. It’s also described as the act or power of imagination, mode of seeing or conceiving, unusual discernment or foresight or direct mystical awareness of the supernatural usually in visible form.

So where do visions come from? God gives us visions. There are three types of visions and three dimensions to a Vision.

The 3 types of visions are: • Personal: This is where God reveals to an individual a vision.

• Corporate: This is where God has chosen to work through a body (a church or ministry.)

• Great: The Great Commission, God’s vision for us all.

So how exactly do we get a vision? Well you can say vision is three dimensional. We can receive a vision from God in one of 3 ways. Did you know the number three in the bible means Resurrection, Divine Completeness and Perfection, (John 14:6, 2 Kings 4:18-35.) is that cool or what. So let’s look at this. We have: • The Word: this is scripture (vision or revelation reading your bible) • The Prophetic: vision through a Prophetic Word (prophetic ministry) • The Spirit: The Holy Spirit (the voice in the night that wakes you. “Noah... build an Ark!”) All three of these can reveal vision and can confirm vision.

The question is what is God or the Holy Spirit revealing to you?

So once a vision is revealed then what? What or how do we implement what God has spoken to us? In Habakkuk 2:2-3 God says this about vision: And the Lord answered me, and said, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Vision once revealed, becomes your responsibility to see it bear fruit. God promises to us are NEVER broken, or return void. If you don’t work to see your vision realized, it will fall to another, natural children and in my case spiritual children. It is our responsibility to start actively

“Write it down and make it plain.” How hard is that? Having a plan on paper is the first step we take. This is what’s called a vision statement. Essentially this is a description of the ministry; its size, its basic structure, its sphere of influence. A vision statement focuses on tomorrow; it is inspirational; it provides clear decision-making criteria; and it is timeless. A vision statement is future oriented.

Seeing a vision brought to life requires hard work. Often a lot of elbow grease and sweat.

Like the Bible says, we “write it down and make it plain.” Having a plan on paper is the first step we take.

Step 2:

The “appointed time” We must understand what “appointed time” means. Any vision takes time to build. What this means is, while you’re waiting for the appointed time you need to be actively preparing. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 speaks of how “Everything has its Time”. In there we learn that proper “time” or “seasons” take preparation which is then followed, by an action. You must prepare before you take action to see the vision God gave you come to life.

So how do we go from a vision to the appointed time?

Well... there are 4 basic steps we need to follow. They are: • The desire to change.

• The willingness to learn.

• To make sound decisions.

• Taking proper action.

Looks pretty easy, but you can get tripped up easily on the last two without breaking a sweat.

But the most important thing is the desire to change. Change takes time and work. You must start making changes and being consistent in them. Once that is done or in process the other steps becomes easy to do. Once these 4 steps are in place we next need to understand how that vision is implemented.

To make our vision work, we need to follow the next three steps: a) Right Knowledge and Training The desire (vision) alone is not enough. You need information and facts (this is knowledge, training, mentoring, etc.) and then to be released (this means NOW) to start building

August 2011 15. that vision.

“My son, if you will receive my words, and treasure my commandments within you; So that you incline your ear unto wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yea, if you cry out for knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge (revelation) of God.” ....Proverbs 2:1-5 Just in case you missed it, that scripture said “to listen”, “to treasure” and “find revelation” or knowledge. We have to be receptive to hearing from God. We need to treasure that which He has revealed to us. Once we have done that we will later understand or come to revelation within this knowledge. Basically we have all we need right now, however some of that knowledge isn’t to be understood until later when the time is right.

b) Right Tools and Support (Waiting Going & Doing) We wait because we’re patient. Building a dream isn’t an overnight experience. Its takes time and patience. Often we have to wait for something to happen before we can take the next step.

Meanwhile we learn more, we get mentored (see Galatians 4:2), we get more education, we build and we go forward to our vision piece by piece.

Money and Tithes: We’ve all heard it takes money to make money. Think of this wisely.

What are you investing in financially? Are you putting money aside? Is your credit bad, mediocre, outstanding? Are you improving your credit? How do you pay for school or classes to take you to the next step to fulfill the vision for your life and ministry vision? As for tithes, it’s about stewardship. You give to God because you make sure His storehouse is full. When you praise and worship give or tithe to Him, His blessings rain down upon you. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see your vision return a 60-fold or a hundred-fold? See Proverbs 3:9, Matthew 10:8, Romans 12, 2nd Corinthians 9:6. c) Taking (righteous) Action (doing) All of the steps above will thrust (force) you into the right direction (turn you). But most importantly, you have to run with it because the Bible says it will surely come.

Having a Vision for Your Personal Life: We all think about the big things we’d like to accomplish in life. But most of us never write them down.

Talk to successful people,

and they’ll tell you that they write down their values, goals, and vision for what they want in life. Then they use it as a compass to make it come true.

Some people use “vision,” “purpose,” and “mission” interchangeably. Others think they describe different things. There is no consensus.

A personal vision statement describes how you see yourself in the future. It describes your hopes and dreams and evokes a sense of achievement and fulfillment.

Writing Your Vision Statement A vision statement integrates various aspects of your life and what you know about yourself.

Here’s one way to write a vision statement.

On a piece of paper list: • Things that bring you happiness and inspire you.

• Things you do best and enjoy doing.

• Things you’ve always wanted to do.

When you complete your list, put the ideas about your future into one or more paragraphs. Your vision statement could be 20 words or 200 words.

Length doesn’t matter. Make sure to write it in the present tense, imagining yourself already achieving what you want.

Two examples of personal vision statements: “I walk up to the podium and am awarded the Olympic Gold Medal for the 100 meter dash. The huge crowd cheers. I watch proudly as my national anthem is played and my country’s flag rises slowly above me.”

“I am physically empowered; have graduated from college; have four satisfying interpersonal relationships that bring me joy, a soulful connection with God, lots of friends, am having fun everyday and making at least $75,000 a year doing work helping other people.”

Remember: The things you think about the most become your reality!

Benefits of A Vision Statement It makes it easier to define the actions and goals that will help you achieve your vision.

It acts as a yardstick against which you can measure your current reality and your progress.

It allows you to evaluate your values. If, for example, one of your values is honesty, you know if you’re compromising your vision by being dishonest.

If you want to start living into your desired future, take the time to write a vision statement. Then put it where you can read it on a regular basis to stay inspired.

Don’t Be Afraid to step out Jesus said in Mark 9:23: Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” ~Pastor Ja’Mail Johnson

16. August 2011

Black Churches, Black Theology and American History “Black churches are very powerful forces in the African American community and always have been. Because religion has been that one place where you have an imagination that no one can control. And so, as long as you know that you are a human being and nobody can take that away from you, then God is that reality in your life that enables you to know that.”

--James H. Cone Reverend Jeremiah Wright, interviewed on the April 25, 2008 edition of BILL MOYERS JOURNAL, echoes James Cone’s sentiment and traces the social strength of the black church in America far beyond the image of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders. Indeed, some commentators, and Wright himself, attribute some of the reaction to snippets of Wright’s sermons to a lack of understanding of the history of African American Christianity. “[They] know nothing about the prophetic theology of the AfricanAmerican experience ... know nothing about the black church,

who don’t even know how we got a black church.”

In early America, Christianity was used to justify both slavery and abolition. In his talk with Bill Moyers, Reverend Wright remarked on the early use of Christian doctrines by African Americans to argue against enslavement. As in freed man David Walker’s appeal of 1829 which stated in part: “They tell us of the Israelites in Egypt, the Helots in Sparta, and of the Roman Slaves, which last were made up from almost every nation under heaven, whose sufferings under those ancient and heathen nations, were, in comparison with ours, under this enlightened and Christian nation, no more than a cypher — or, in other words, those heathen nations of antiquity, had but little more among them than the name and form of slavery; while wretchedness and endless miseries were reserved, apparently in a phial, to be poured out upon,

our fathers ourselves and our children, by Christian Americans!”

In the antebellum South many states had laws on their books prohibiting anyone from teaching a slave to read. After Emancipation education was a primary goal of the newly freed.

Ex-slaves built schools all over the South, with and without the

Later I went to school at Shaw University. I went to state school in my last year because they would give you a lifetime certificate when you finished there. I mean a lifetime teaching certificate for Mississippi.”--Samuel S. Taylor, Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer’s Project, 19361938 Rev. Wright notes that the church expanded as the graduates of these schools and universities moved north. And many moved away from a Christianity which seemed to them to be rooted in a white experience of history and faith.

James H. Cone and Black Theology

help of Northern Christian Abolitionists like those who founded the United Church of Christ.

“In 1874 my daddy moved up on his own place at Hurricane Creek. There he built a church and built a school and I went to the school on our own place...

The Sweet News from Comforting Bible Verses for Seniors in Psalm 92

Divinity schools and universities around the world include James Cone on their reading lists. Cone is known as the founder of black theology — a philosophy Cone first laid out in BLACK POWER AND BLACK THEOLOGY in 1969: As we examine what contemporary theologians are saying, we find that they are silent

about the enslaved condition of black people. Evidently they see no relationship between black slavery and the Christian gospel.

Consequently there has been no sharp confrontation of the gospel with white racism. There is, then, a desperate need for a black theology, a theology whose sole purpose is to apply the freeing power of the gospel to black people under white oppression.

Cone furthered the idea with A BLACK THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION, which stated: “Any message that is not related to the liberation of the poor in a society is not Christ’s message.

Any theology that is indifferent to the theme of liberation is not Christian theology.” Liberation theology became and remains a powerful philosophy and movement throughout the world.

The Church and the Music Reverend Wright notes that in 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois said “there are three ingredients to the black church: preaching, music, and the Holy Spirit. Now, I wish I had coined that phrase.”

Wright and James Cone have studied the music of African and African-American traditions. As Wright notes both spirituals and the blues send a message “I’m not giving up life over this.’Cause life goes on beyond this pain is just for a moment. This whole notion about what we’re going through is only a season. And this came to pass, didn’t come to stay. That’s what the blues do. And that’s what the music tradition does.

That’s what the spirituals have done and that’s what the gospel music has done, historically, in our church.”

By Kaye Swain, Contributing Writer

Psalm 92 is such a blessing to me as a baby boomer, flirting with senior citizen status (depending on the restaurant I’m eating at). I have to admit, my favorite verse is the 14th - “They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green.” Isn’t that great!

But the good news in Psalm 92 for all of us boomers and seniors doesn’t end there. This passage is full of encouraging Bible verses to help us as we walk through various trials, including those of us in the Sandwich Generation, dealing with the issues of caring for the elderly parents

in our family along with still raising children or babysitting grandchildren.

The first few verses give us a simple RX for how to deal with life - by giving thanks to God Almighty, for all His blessings. It’s so easy to get mired down in the problems and feel like you’ve been forgotten or abandoned. But Psalm 92 reminds us that isn’t the case. And one simple way to help remind yourself of that is to make a daily list of all the blessings you see - no matter how small.

At first, that may be hard to do. But once you write down one or two, it gets eas-

ier. The hard part, for me, is finding time and remembering. (No I’m not suffering from senior-itis. Busy-itis!).

Putting a pen and notebook in the bathroom is a great way to make it easy to remember to do.

Another piece of advice that’s good for us to follow is found in verse 4, “sing for joy.”

To help me with that, I keep many of my favorite praise and worship hymn songs and music on my iPod and listen to it as I do various chores.

Plus I have a great Christian radio station set in my car, along with music CDs - all to help me remember to listen

to uplifting and encouraging music - often filled with Bible verses - as I drive my grandkids and senior mom around.

Life is definitely not easy, and sometimes, it just seems to get harder and harder. But encouraging and comfort-

ing Bible verses, such as those in Psalm 92, and praise and worship hymn songs help us to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, Who is our ROCK! In Him, we can do all things no matter what our age or circumstances!

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713.272.9511

August 2011 17.

18. August 2011

August 2011 19.

Popular Sanguine,

“The Holy Ghost Party Animal” Sharon C. Jenkins, Contributing Writer

Have you ever been to a church that was “dead as a door knob” until this one big hat wearing “sistah” walked through the door?

Sistah Lulu is her name and Holy Ghost “partying” is her game. She always shows up dressed like springtime wearing a huge

flowered hat with a brim as wide as the pew she’s sitting on. You could bet your last dollar on her arriving at least five minutes late so that she can make a grand entrance like all church diva’s do.

Just when the praise team is tuning up for a serious melodious shout and the ushers are taping their feet to the sanctified beat, in sashays Sistah Lulu. Hips swaying down the aisle like tree branches waving at God on a lazy windy day, she cuts a little bit of a Holy Ghost step as she turns into the pew that has his-

torically held her girth for years and the church says “Amen.” Her center aisle, second row, corner seat facing the pulpit is prime church real estate. You can see everything and be seen by everyone from this prestigious position.

It is rumored that a pretty little young thing that had her eye on the pastor tried to sit there one day. Sistah Lulu showed up like clockwork at five past eleven, shouted her clean out of the church and she left running, never to be seen again. The church mothers awarded Sistah Lulu “The Holy Ghost Shouting Hero Award” at their next banquet and of course Sistah Lulu showed up wearing one of her fabulous flowery creations.

Come to think of it no one has ever seen Sistah Lulu without a hat, even when she goes to the community swimming pool.

One of the ushers said that you could tell where Sistah Lulu was located in the pool. He saw her doing the back stroke like an Olympian, in a pool cap covered with large iridescent flowers of every imaginable color in the rainbow. The mystery of the hat wearing Sistah Lulu is not what makes you giggle, but her undeniable charm that could literally make you do just about anything.

Sistah Lulu is a Popular Sanguine. The Popular Sanguine is the first of the Spiritual Personalities that we will take an investigative look at in this series.

The Church Bridging the Gap

By Pastor John Olgetreee, Contributing Writer 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.

45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

The local church or community of faith is a member of a larger community. Therefore, the church must be a part of a solving local problems and providing support to strengthen the community and city. It should be involved in identifying issues, setting priorities, shaping solutions, meeting needs and partnering or confronting the powers in the community or city can help or that stand in the way of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This requires a “”bridging the gap” paradigm for the local congregation. With this perspective the local congregation will see itself as the vehicle God has placed in the community and city to connect people to the solutions and resources they stand in need of. In order for the church to connect to its community/city, it must know the needs, opportunities, demographics, and trends that exist.

Wherever a need exist in a community, there also exists a gap that needs bridging.

The list of potential needs where gaps exist are many: Substandard housing, Predatory lending, Single Mothers, Low Achieving Schools, Drugs, Hunger, Human Trafficking, Payday Loans, Poor Street Conditions, Gangs, High Unemployment, Crime, Poverty, I believe the local church is the most important organism within a community. It alone is God’s channel for His proclamation, presence, protection, provision and power. John Perkins the founder of Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) in his book Beyond Charity stresses the importance of the local church being a viable visible vessel to effect change in the community and city. Perkins

takes the position that only the local church can most fully: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Absorb Pain Proclaim hope Point to God’s authority Bring people together Spend lavishly Reflect God’s character Protect the vulnerable

This is what we see of the church in it’s infancy in Acts. It bridged the spiritual gap through preaching, teaching, communion and worship. It bridged relational gaps through fellowship (developing intimate relationships). It also bridged the need gap within the community. The early believers sold possessions and good and distributed them to those in need.

Churches that bridge the gaps have an external focus.

Their heart is on reaching people with the message and love of Jesus Christ and leading people to get their needs met. When a church has an internal focus, the concern will be increasing membership and ministry within the four walls of the church.

A community and city focused pastor should: • Pray for the community and the city not just the church.

• Be a part of the community

The Popular Sanguine is a high-energy, fun-loving, outgoing personality with charismatic charm.

Their basic desire is to “have fun.” They need attention, affection, your approval, and uncompromised acceptance. A word of caution: Keep them away from your checkbook!

They love to shop and have been known to be addicted to shopping malls.

They often view God as either a loving father or a best friend, someone that they can fellowship with.

For the biblical scholars checking out this article the scripture references are Matthew 7:11 and 1st Corinthians 1:9b (NLT).

Church is often an extension of their social life. It’s the prime benefit of their spiritual experience. Their spiritual strength is grace.

They are accustomed to everyone liking them so the transition to God loving them unconditionally is an easy one. As a result they understand that God’ grace should be reciprocated.

The biblical character that best fits the Popular Sanguine personality is the Apostle Peter. He

by living in, shopping, eating, drinking coffee, exercising, etc.

• Get to know key players in the community.

• Be interested in and take part when possible in the happenings of the community.

• Be a friend to those who are lonely… pop-in-and-sayhello ministry.

• Create opportunities to engage and build relationships with the community.

• Provide opportunities for people to investigate Christianity & for faith to be put on the agenda.

• Support local businesses and get to know them.

• Know the demographics and statistics of the community and city.

• Be purposeful in marketing and ministry in reaching the community.

• Get involved in community activities/meetings.

• Set in motion the solutions to the frustrations and fears of the community/city.

Relationships outside the four walls of the church are essential to being successful in the community/city. Since the church is within a community and city what she seeks to accomplish will be affected by or effect the other entities within a community/city, therefore relationships must be established with the “powers that be.” Who are the possible relationship targets?

• City Council persons

was known to suffer from “foot-in-mouth” disease and loved center stage. If God had a message for the masses, Peter was assigned the job. In the book of Acts, Peter was the Apostle chosen to declare Christ as the Risen Lord to the masses. He was so eloquent in his speaking that thousands joined the church that day.

Peter is also known for his denial of Christ during the crucifixion, as was prophesied by the Lord prior to His death. Like Judas, Peter betrayed our Lord because his need for approval from man was greater than his commitment to God. Peter repented and experienced the “grace” of God which deepened His relationship and zeal to preach the gospel to the world.

I hope you have enjoyed this snapshot of the Popular Sanguine. The Powerful Choleric is the next personality to be examined. The Apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul will be in the Spiritual Personality Spotlight. Stay tuned, you just may discover more about you!

• The Mayor • City Comptroller • County Commissioner • The Sheriff • The Police Chief • The Superintendent of Schools • Board Trustees of School Districts • School Principals • Bankers • Key Business Leaders • U.S. Congressperson • U.S. Senator • State Legislators • Governor/Lt. Governor • Chamber of Commerce • Hospital Administrators • NAACP • Urban League • Local Members of the Judiciary • Issue Oriented Organizations • Church Leaders Establishing relationships with community powers can provide many benefits: Grants, Letters of Reference, Ordinances, Bills, Public Recognition, and Sponsorship for Events, Donations, Partnerships, and Connections to Powerful people and Resources…

In these days of budget cuts from Washington to Austin to our County and City, the church must rise up to it purpose and Bridge the Gaps that exists within our community.

20. August 2011

Thomas A. Dorsey:

The Pioneer of Gospel Music

Some people are fortunate enough to make their mark in one particular field of endeavor, while others contribute and excel in multiple fields, becoming legends in the process. Such is the legacy of Thomas A. Dorsey, who (after a productive career in the blues) went on to become a pioneer of gospel music. Add to this his vast body of work as a composer, arranger, and music publisher, and one finds enough creativity for several lifetimes!

Thomas Andrew Dorsey came into this world July 1, 1899 at Villa Rica, in Carroll County, Georgia. Born into a household where religion was at the foremost, Thomas and his three siblings were raised in a spiritually rich atmosphere, thanks to their father, Thomas Madison Dorsey, and mother, Etta Plant Spencer Dorsey. The senior Thomas had been involved in church work throughout Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida as an itinerant preacher; mother Etta was an organist and choir singer. The couple met during an evangelizing mission. Money was hard to come by, and the Reverend Dorsey would supplement the family income with farm work while moving from town to town seeking a permanent pastorate. It was financial woes that caused the Dorseys to leave Villa Rica for Atlanta about 1904. As young Thomas grew a bit older he was expected to assist with the family income, and around 1910 he took a job at the 81 Theater selling concessions during intermission. The prestigious venue was located on Decatur Street, which was part of Atlanta’s black entertainment district, and Thomas was privy to the many vaudeville

acts and touring musicians, such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, who left a great impression on him. Dorsey studiously listened to the piano players at the theater, and learned to play the instrument himself.

He also learned to read music during this period, a key attribute that would further his contribution to American roots music.

He began playing for small audiences at house parties and bordellos in the city using the name Barrelhouse Tommy.

In 1916 Thomas Dorsey migrated north to Chicago, working for a time at a factory in nearby Gary, Indiana, while playing local clubs in a five-piece band he founded. In 1919 he enrolled at the Chicago School of Composition and Arranging, where he sharpened his skills over the next three years. His efforts paid off when he was hired by Paramount Records to arrange songs and also act as talent scout for the label. His song “Riverside Blues” was recorded by jazz giant (and Gennett recording artist) King Oliver; other compositions, “I Want A Daddy To Call My Own” and “Muddy Water Blues,” were put on wax by the singer Monette Moore. He found gigs with Will Walker’s Whispering Syncopators during 1922-23, but it was the following year in which he caught his big break. Ma Rainey came onto the Paramount roster, and Thomas was assigned to become her arranger and coach. A successful show at Chicago’s Grand Theater led to Dorsey’s touring with the great blues singer and leading the five-piece Wild Cats Jazz Band on the Theater Owner’s Booking Association circuit at dates around the Midwest and South.

Thomas married Nettie Harper in 1925, and she accompanied her husband on the road as Ma Rainey’s wardrobe mistress. By this time Dorsey had begun recording with Rainey, playing on such numbers as “Black Eye Blues” and “Sleep Talking

Blues.” He also toured with Big Bill Broonzy, Bertha “Chippie” Hill, and Papa Charlie Jackson.

All of this hyperactivity led to Tom suffering a nervous breakdown, from which he recovered only through a religious conversion. As with several bluesmen, he was internally torn between the sacred and the secular—his devotion to the Lord and the “devil’s music” he loved so much.

At this point, the blues won out.

In 1928, now known professionally as Georgia Tom, Dorsey teamed with talented bottleneck guitarist Tampa Red on the million-selling hokum blues number “It’s Tight Like That.”

The song proved so popular the duo actually made multiple recordings, first as Tampa Red and Georgia Tom and later as Tampa Red’s Hokum Jug Band (with Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon on vocals). A third version saw the pair accompany the singers Papa Too Sweet and Harry Jones.

Georgia Tom created many sides for Gennett Records between

1928 and 1930, many issued on related labels Supertone and Champion. The Champion label was established by Fred Gennett as a budget specialty label, primarily for distribution through chain stores. Through retailers like Sears, nearly all of America had the opportunity to purchase great music at an affordable price. Among titles released

by Georgia Tom under assorted names (he was even re-issued on Champion as Smokehouse Charlie!), were the songs “All Alone Blues” Gennett 7041/ Champion 15903, “Dark Hour Blues” Champion 15950, “Eagle Ridin’ Papa” Champion 15834/ Supertone 9508, “Maybe It’s The Blues” Champion 15994 and 50054/Gennett 7190, “Pat That Bread” Supertone S2216, “Pig Meat Blues” Champion 15815, “Second-Hand Woman Blues” Gennett 7130/Supertone 9647, “Somebody’s Been Usin’ That

Thing, No.2” Gennett 6933/ Champion 15794, and “Terrible Operation Blues” Champion 16171. Although Gennett is best known for its monumental jazz releases, these sides point to the firm’s importance in the early blues market.

Georgia Tom also recorded numerous songs with fellow Gennett artists Scrapper Blackwell and Big Bill Broonzy. He had not completely forsaken his spiritual side, though. Throughout the 1920s, Dorsey wrote songs such as “If I Don’t Get There” and “If You See My Savior, Tell Him That You Saw Me.” The latter composition he performed in 1930 at the National Baptist Convention to almost delirious response. The following year he joined with the singing evangelist Theodore Frye at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in what is generally recognized as the first gospel chorus. He formed a publishing company, the Thomas A. Dorsey Gospel Songs Music Publishing Company to profit from the sale of sheet music.

Dorsey also partnered with singer Sallie Martin in founding the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses.

The next landmark in the life of Thomas Dorsey came in 1932 when he was appointed director of the choir at the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago’s Bronzeville District, an association he would continue until 1972. Perhaps the greatest turning point in his life, however, came when tragedy befell the Dorsey family. In August 1932 Thomas’ wife Nettie died during childbirth, and his firstborn son, Thomas Andrew, Jr., perished the very next day. Needless to say the events hit Dorsey hard, and he turned once again to his faith for consolation. He responded by writing one of the most famous songs of his career, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” a tune later recorded

by Aretha Franklin that has been sung in countless churches and at weddings and funerals in the decades since. These tragic events also marked the close of Georgia Tom Dorsey’s work in the blues; from that point on he was committed solely to gospel music.

Through the efforts of Thomas Dorsey and Sallie Martin, gospel choruses began flourishing throughout South Side churches in Chicago. He

continued to write and publish prolifically during the 1930s, songs such as “Did It Happen To You Like It Happened To Me?”, “Do You Know Anything About Jesus?,” and “Forgive My Sins, Forget, And Make Me Whole.”

Thomas also published his first books, Inspirational Thoughts in 1934 and Songs with a Message: My Ups and Downs in 1938. In 1935 Ruth A. Smith’s The Life and Works of Thomas Andrew Dorsey: The Celebrated Pianist and Songwriter, Poetical and Pictorial were published.

Smith’s book was the first Dorsey biography. From 1932 he made appearances with his own University Gospel Singers, and the group debuted on Chicago’s WLFL radio in 1937. He toured the United States, Mexico, Europe, and North Africa with the Gospel Choral Union, proselytizing during “An Evening With Dorsey” at churches and concerts from 1932-44. Another key moment in Dorsey’s lifetime occurred when he “discovered” and nurtured the career of gospel’s first international star, the fabulous Mahalia Jackson, whom he had met in 1929. The pair sang together at Pilgrim Baptist Church, and Thomas went on the road with her beginning in the late 1930s and through the War years. Later Jackson would sing “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commencing in 1940, Dorsey served as Dean of Evangelistic Musical Research and Ministry of Church Music for the Gospel Choral Union of Chicago.

Thomas Dorsey had over 400 gospel songs published and composed hundreds more. His “Peace in the Valley” is a favorite song of country performers and was a hit for Elvis Presley in 1957. The scope of his life’s work is almost dizzying. In the 1960s and 70s he served as assistant pastor at Pilgrim Baptist, and toured the lecture circuit. A 1973 tribute album, “Precious Lord,” featured singers such as Sallie Martin and the Dixie Hummingbirds alongside Tom Dorsey on piano. He appeared in the 1983 gospel documentary, “Say Amen, Somebody,” broken hips and all, waxing eloquently about his dual lives in the blues and the gospel. Thomas Andrew Dorsey led a full life, rich beyond dreams in so many ways. He died on January 23, 1993. This peaceful man, who gave the gift of his music and himself, rests inside the mausoleum at Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago’s south side.

Credited with devising the term “gospel music,” Tom Dorsey once served as a leading light in the field of pre-War blues. Much of that legacy can be heard because of Gennett Records, a leading light in the field of American roots music!

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Lift Every Voice and Sing

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” — often called “The Negro National Hymn”, “The Negro National Anthem”, “The Black National Anthem”, or “The African-American National Anthem”— is a song written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954) in 1900.

History “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12, 1900 by 500

school children at the segregated Stanton School. Its

principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington.

The poem was later set to music by Johnson’s brother John in 1905. Singing this song quickly became a way for African Americans to demonstrate their patriotism and hope for the future. In calling for earth and heaven to “ring with the harmonies of Liberty,” they could speak out subtly against racism and Jim Crow laws—and especially the huge number of lynching’s accompanying the rise of the Ku Klux Klan at the turn of the century. In 1919, the NAACP adopted the song as “The Negro National Anthem.” By the 1920s, copies of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” could be found in black churches across the country, often pasted into the hymnals.

In 1939, Augusta Savage received a commission from the World’s Fair and created a 16foot plaster sculpture called Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing. Savage did not have any funds for a bronze cast, or even to move and store it, and it was destroyed by bulldozers at the close of the fair.[1] During and after the American Civil Rights Movement, the song experienced a rebirth, and by the 1970s was often sung immediately after “The Star Spangled Banner” at public events and performances across the United States where the event had a significant African-American population.

In Maya Angelou’s 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the song is sung by the audience and students at Maya’s eighth grade graduation, after a white school official dashes the educational

aspirations of her class.

In 1990, singer Melba Moore released a modern rendition of the song, which she recorded along with others including R&B artists Anita Baker, Stephanie Mills, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jeffrey Osborne, and Howard Hewett; and gospel artists BeBe & CeCe Winans, Take 6, and The Clark Sisters. Partly because of the success of this recording, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was entered into the Congressional Record by Del. Walter Fauntroy (D-DC), as the official African American National Hymn.

Other notable recorded contemporary versions include those by Women of the Calabash (The Kwanzaa Album), Winard Harper (Faith album), and Linda Tillery, Leontyne Price, and the Cultural Heritage Choir (Front Porch Music album).

On January 20, 2009, the Rev. Joseph Lowery (former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference) used a near-verbatim recitation of the song’s third stanza to begin his benediction at the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama.

In 2010, Timothy Askew, an associate professor of English at Clark Atlanta University (a historically black college) published a book critiquing the song’s designation as a “national anthem” as racially divisive.

Lyrics The first verse is the one most commonly heard.

Lift every voice and sing, ‘Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on ‘til victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chast’ning rod,

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Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, ‘Til now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land.

Praise and Worship: Release the Power of God in Your Life

By Lorene Troyer, Contributing Writer

You will release the supernatural power of God in your life when you learn to praise Him with all your heart. By sincerely worshipping Him on a regular basis, you will begin to experience victory in every area of your life (2 Corinthians 2:14). Many Christians are living defeated lives because they have never learned how to tap into the power of praise and worship.

Worshipping God demonstrates your love and faith in His ability to take care of your problems. When you keep your motives pure and praise Him because you love and desire to please Him, He is able to release blessings in your life. Here some of the benefits you’ll experience as a result of praising God. You will have greater peace in your life. By praising God, you release your faith in His ability to take care of you and your needs so you’ll worry less and sleep better.

Your family will be blessed for your sake--some examples of this may be your husband and children being protected from harm, your husband getting a raise at his job or mak-

ing decisions that impacts your family in a positive way.

As you faithfully continue to praise God, increased blessings will start to appear in your life (Psalms 84:11). The suit you have wanted goes on sale, your spouse buys you the music CD you’ve been wanting or your friend gives you a gift certificate to your favorite bookstore.

When you worship God and obey His word, your needs will be met. Eventually, you will no longer struggle to make the house payments or worry about your lights getting shut off.

You’ll see increased answers to your prayers. Praising God with a sincere heart, gives you favor with Him and increases your confidence in His willingness to bless you.

Establishing a lifestyle of praise and worship is an essential part of living a victorious Christian life. Make the commitment today to obey His Word and consistently give Him your heartfelt praise. No matter what your present circumstances, He wants you blessed in every area of your life.

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THE EXPERT NETWORK

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THE EXPERT NETWORK