MannaEXPRESS April 2012 by MannaEXPRESS

April

2012 Vo l u me 6 Is s u e 4

by Taiwo Ayeni You, too, can learn to cast out devils

Stronger Than Death, by Trevor Main Love is the last man standing in The Hunger Games

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Demons for Dummies,

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WHAT DO YOU SEE?

BEE Somebody, by May Olusola Thelma Wells overcame segregation and abuse to become a trailblazer

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CONTENTS Publisher May Olusola

Features 8

What Do You See? Race, perception, and the cause of Christ in the Trayvon Martin case. by Sharifa Stevens, Stephanie Morris-Graves, and Julie Lyons

Editor Julie Lyons Art Direction Jason McFarland

Contributing Writers Taiwo Ayeni Joanne Cutting-Gray Iris Delgado Chuck Goldberg J. Lee Grady Mrs. Happy Hank Lamb Trevor Main Stephanie Morris-Graves Sanele Ndebele Sharifa Stevens Michael Tummillo

“God Could Raise Him Up” Aric Dang beat the odds and survived a horrific accident because of fervent, focused intercessory prayer. by Chuck Goldberg

Columns 5

Cover Artist Keith Yates MannaEXPRESS 7000 Independence Parkway, Suites 160–145 Plano, Texas 75025 For subscription information e-mail us: info@mannaexpressonline.com For Advertising, event coverage, church or organization listing and general information, please call: Office: 972-782-2727; 972-228-9200 To send a message to the Publisher, e-mail: editor@mannaexpressonline.com © 2012 MannaEXPRESS All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of any portion of this issue is allowed without written permission from the publisher. MannaEXPRESS reserves the right to decline advertising that is not in accordance with what the newspaper represents.

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It Is Well Rodney King’s words resound from the 1992 L.A. riots: “Can’t we all get along?” by May Olusola Talk Back Our readers are inspired by the amazing Ogiozee family and the generosity of June Hunt.

Grace and Grit Why Harold Camping’s public repentance leaves me cold. by Sharifa Stevens

Soul Food From the humble earth to your table: the glory of beans. by Joanne Cutting-Gray

Guest Column: Freefall Take a risk that scares you half to death. by Melissa Shaver

Godly Man Make a choice to love in the worst of circumstances. by Michael Tummillo

Third Watch You, too, can learn to cast out devils. by Taiwo Ayeni

Entertainment

Prayer Mountain This month’s focus: Because He rose, you are free indeed!

Manna Confidential Why does my husband want to have sex all the time? by Mrs. Happy

Manna Fun! Test your Biblical literacy with our crossword puzzle.

Manna Groove Love is stronger than death in The Hunger Games. by Trevor Main

Fire in My Bones Blow that shofar one more time, and I’ll scream. And no one will hear me. by J. Lee Grady

Far Above Rubies Thelma Wells refused bitterness and seized her God-given destiny to be somebody. by May Olusola

Manna About Town We captured the scene at the Night of Praise concert and more.

Why Can’t We All Still Get Along? I

always anticipate the month of March. Aside from welcoming the warmth that comes with spring and flowers blooming (I hate winter), I consider it my favorite month. It sets in motion a wealth of good memories. My dear mother, It is well darling son, favorite niece, by May Olusola generous uncle, and some great Publisher friends were all born in March. Also, some life-changing events took place in this month. So when dusk set on February 29, 2012, my mind and outstretched arms were more than ready to receive and bask in the joy of marching into the next 31 days.

in Uganda. Please. It has more than a million views in two days—I know you’ll like it.”

What I got on the first day of March 2012 wasted no time in shoving my “me, me, me” agenda to the curb. The news of the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin sent chills down my spine. The fact that his killer—George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic man—claimed self-defense and wasn’t charged with a crime added goose bumps to the chill I was already experiencing.

A scene in the video where the reporter goes into the bush to meet with Kony despite the dangers touched a raw nerve in me. I couldn’t help but continue to think of what the future held for me—how I could take a stand in expressing compassion, in making sacrifices for others.

My mind raced to the Martin family, and I wondered what was going on in their aching minds. I thought of my son— what if it had been him, or any of my beloved nephews or a family friend’s son? What would I do? These thoughts fueled a fear of the unknown that I had to suppress with assurance from the Word of God. It was obvious that the monster of racial tensions had been stirred. Heart-wrenching cries from many people—especially African-Americans screaming “foul”—began rising from different quarters with a call for Zimmerman’s arrest. In the midst of all this, Skittles and hoodies became overnight icons of injustice, and Rodney King’s plea from the wilderness of the 1992 Los Angeles racial riots—“Can we all get along? Can we get along?”—fell on deaf ears. For me, this was a time to think, and I spent the next few days considering what the future held for my generation. By the 5th day of the month, something new had gone incredibly viral all over the world. I didn’t even know about it till a shameless craving for cheesecake caused me to invite my 15-year-old son along with me on a drive I truly had no business taking. “Mom, let me show you an interesting video I saw this afternoon,” he said, reaching for his cell phone. Thinking it was one of those silly videos teenagers watch, I put him off. “Not now, maybe later.”

I gave in and watched the video—KONY 2012. If you haven’t heard of it by now, it’s a documentary by the U.S. nonprofit Invisible Children that calls for action to help hunt and capture a ruthless rebel leader in the jungles of central Africa named Joseph Kony. The images of mutilated boys and girls, child victims of rape, and young soldiers carrying fierce-looking arms at times heavier than they were produced a mixed reaction in me. I felt rage from the wickedness of this man and his army to fellow human beings, particularly innocent children. But I also admired this group of young Americans who’d found a way into the corridors of power and the hearts of so many people with their 30-minute film.

A lighter side came at the end of the month through a 17-year-old boy on the Britain’s Got Talent show. Jonathan Antoine reinforced the adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover. A victim of bullying and low self-esteem, Jonathan came onstage to jaundiced looks from the judges, who seemed to be saying, “Do your thing and get outta here.” Like Joseph in the Bible, who woke up one morning as a prisoner and went to bed the same day as prime minister, Jonathan—a nobody 10 minutes earlier—became a somebody the world is still talking about, with 7,602,547 million views of his video on YouTube in a single week. He stunned the judges and audience with his stellar voice and gave me reason to end March 2012 on a brighter note. While the month of March didn’t go the way I expected, I’m glad it got me thinking about my role in reinforcing the messages of diversity, sacrificial giving outside my comfort zone, and never underestimating anybody. Be sure to read the stories from our incredible writers—I don’t think you’ll find a more diverse, surprising set of voices anywhere in American Christian media. When you’re done, think of how you can make a difference in people’s lives. Until next time, keep thinking, keep impacting others, and please keep spreading the word about MannaEXPRESS.

He persisted. Actually, he pleaded. “Mom, you have to see this video—you have to see what’s happening to children April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 4

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Talk Back Letters to

So touching, really. I have learned a lot. God will never leave us nor forsake us. May God continue to shine in this family. —Pauline Rusere

I was really blessed by this article. I am getting ready to do a luncheon with my prayer partners and was instructed by God to invite other women as well. When God gave me this thought, I did not know what God is so good. What a beautiful story and all He planned for me to do. Then after a beautiful family. I know that God will Whitney Houston passed, He told me that continue to bless them! this luncheon was going to help someone —Kelly Bourgeois who was struggling with addictions. After reading this article, God showed me that What an inspirational story. It shows that there are a lot of hurting people/women God still answers prayer. In fact, from out there and that someone’s testimony at this moment I’m going to be following the luncheon will bless someone in need. Emmanuel’s steps in praying to know God’s June’s testimony has helped me to continue Family of Faith will. Not only in the area of marriage, but to prepare what God will have me say and Tears welled in my eyes as I read this story also in my career and job. do. When I stopped to read this article, I [“God Meant It for Good,” by Chuck —Akhigbe Wilfred really was in a hurry, but I read the article Goldberg, March 2012]. God always turns to the end. around for so much good what the devil Such a touching story—so happy that God meant for bad. What a beautiful family. has made you all a happy family together! I am glad that I did. Thanks, May, for —Susan Jakes —Tresa Helton interviewing June. June, thanks for sharing your story. You have really helped me. I love the way this story ended. Who said God is so faithful. He is truly a rewarder —Shirley Moore there is no God? of those who diligently seek Him. What —Phyllis Wangura a lovely couple. God has good plans for June Hunt is a rare gem. She is very humble them. and totally sold out to Christ. We need Your lives are a big testimony and sure have —Denischa more people like this. convinced me to continue to believe and —Tracy put my trust and faith in God, because He Oil Tycoon’s Daughter holds our life in His hands. Brilliantly written. Ms. Hunt is an example To come from so much wealth and have —Stella Onyeakazi such a big heart for others automatically of someone completely sold out to Christ. earns my respect [“Heart of Hope,” by May As she has been a blessing to millions, so I will continue to fast and pray to have the Olusola, March 2012]. God bless you, Ms. millions will be a blessing to her. I pray this faith to put all of my trust in God. This in the name of Jesus. June Hunt. was a very inspirational story. God is always —Sammy —Liz Caralte with us. —Kelley Knight

the Editor

“To come from so much wealth and have such a big heart for others automatically earns my respect. God bless you, Ms. June Hunt.” Goofy, Constipated, etc. You have greater hope than I do for GCB [“Good Christian What?” by Sharifa Stevens, March 2012]. I cannot believe that any programming of late will choose to reach beyond what’s worked in the past to portray a balanced and even—may I ever hope to see—an eye-opening view of real Christians, the ones who lay down their lives for others, who give without all the fanfare and media recognition because that’s what’s in their hearts, not as a PR stunt. God help us if that kind of show ever becomes commercially viable, but see, that’s where the sticking point is. Nobody wants to watch people doing good for goodness’ sake. One big sigh. —Rosilin Wiegand

Prayer Mountain April 2012: You are free indeed!

elcome to the month of April 2012. The month of the Passover, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and more. We thank the Lord for life, the greatest gift of all, and what He has been doing in and with us so far this year. Our Lord and Savior died on the Cross of Calvary for the remission of our sins, and by His stripes, we are healed. He was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf daily. It is written that by the mention of His name, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. If we truly believe that He died so we may live, why then do we let doubt and fear mock the sacrifice He made for us? Why do we allow our past to dictate our future? Why is it hard for us to abandon our cares to the hands of our Father? We pray that throughout this month of April, the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts will be acceptable before God, in Jesus’ name.

Scriptures: Acts 13:34–35; Romans 4:23–25; Acts 13:30–35; Colossians 2:11–12; Ephesians 1:20–21; Romans 8:11; Romans 1:3–4; Romans 8:33–34; and Luke 24:46–47.

Prayer points: • Father, I thank you for the opportunity to see this month and all you have planned for me, in Jesus’ name. • Father, please hear my voice when I call; be merciful to me and answer me, in Jesus’ name. • I pray that my Father in Heaven will give me the grace and strength to pay the price that will cause the floodgates of heaven to open for me, in Jesus’ name. • As I strive to live in love and obedience, I pray that the Lord will show His Lordship in my life, in Jesus’ name. • I pray that the faith of God in me will empower me to touch the hem of His garment, in Jesus’ name. • I pray that the Lord will remember and put me on His agenda for an immediate breakthrough, in Jesus’ name. • I will live a life of success, purpose, prayer, greatness, and deep revelation, in Jesus’ name. • I pray that I will be successful in all my undertakings, according to the will of the Lord for my life, in Jesus’ name. • I will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday, in Jesus’ name. • Father, we pray for those passing through heavy trials that you turn their captivity around and cause them to be like them that dream, in the name of Jesus.

Fresh Manna Worthy Is the Lamb That Was Slain Easter has a special significance because of what the Savior of the world was able to achieve in the midst of the most unjust event in human history. The grace of Jesus to save every single one, reuniting us with the Father, is exemplified in His instantaneous forgiveness of those hard hearts that could not see or comprehend the process of eternal redemption. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. Luke 23:34

Considering the Emptiness of Christ It may be incorrect to emphasize the emptiness of Christ on the cross (Philippians 2:8) over the Messiah’s chosen emptiness (Philippians 2:7) to enter from God into the Incarnation. It was divine humility that powered both. It was for humanity’s consummate necessity that both occurred. The emptiness of Christ, considering both the cross and the Incarnation, brings home awareness of the paradoxical fullness of both realities. When the Son became incarnate in Jesus, all that was God went into the Man. When Jesus gave up His will and allowed the injustices to occur against Him because it was the Father’s will to do so, He absorbed the fullness of the sin of humankind—every last detail of the filth, judgment, guilt, and shame; large and small. The emptiness of Christ in both these events speaks not only of divine holiness and humility, but the absolute forgiveness of grace in holding nothing of what was in the past against the future. Iniquity, upon repentance, was now no longer a barrier, given Jesus’ obedience. The emptiness of Christ shows us the Messiah in the fearless mood of love beyond any hurt or egotistical need to be God. Such is the divine agenda.

Worthiness by Grace The Lamb of God that was slain is not worthy simply because of sacrifice, for He is, was, and always will be, God. But to extend the concept that God—in all divine power, knowledge, presence, and love—would give of himself defies rationality. Why would God do that? We can wonder about that all our lives, knowing the truth that such a thing outwitted Satan, and still hold the matter of bewilderment squarely in our minds. The subject of worthiness, in relation to the crucifixion, is

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PRAYER REQUESTS FROM OUR READERS: “Praise the Lord! My husband and I have been looking for the fruit of the womb for so long. My husband is yet to get a permanent job. Our families are also experiencing a lot of challenges. Please pray for us, so that the yokes will be broken.” —Anonymous “Pray for protection for my children, who have had many trials and tribulations in their lives. Give them love, courage, and faith so they can accomplish what they need to stand on their own without fear and without constant hurt from others and be a success.” —Audrey “My brother Nicolas is on a respirator; the doctors are saying he is severely brain-damaged…the devil is a liar. Please, let’s all join together in prayer for Nicolas. He is a beautiful man, he just became a father to his daughter, his firstborn, and he can’t even hold her. Let us pray that the Lord will lift him to his feet and restore him back to his health better than ever, that he will have a testimony, giving all thanks and praise to the Lord, in Jesus’ name.” —Merida “I have financial projects, and they are going to change my life if they go through successfully. I need God’s intervention in these deals and I want a breakthrough so God’s name is glorified. I need a testimony in my life, because it is my time to break forth. Thank you.” —Ugochukwu Israel an interesting concept for us personally. Living the death of Jesus in our mortal beings (2 Corinthians 4:10) brings forth the glory of God, bequeathing ever more worthiness to the Savior in honor of the Father. And we’ve simply followed Jesus’ wonderful model; that whoever transgresses us, having been forgiven, may look to God and praise the Divine Hand because of their experience of mercy at our hand. Christ emptied Himself to die on the cross and to absorb the fullness of our sin. Because He was from God and obeyed the Father, worthy alone is He that was slain: the Lamb of God. —Steve J. Wickham

What Do You See?

in often during 22 years as one of the very few white members of a black, inner-city church—playing catchup, trying to process emotions and facts, groping for understanding. I get it, but I don’t really get it. I am white by acculturation and color, and my world unfolds differently from that of a brown-skinned person.

Race, perception, and the cause of Christ

rayvon Martin was shot to death by George Zimmerman on February, 26, 2012, in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. These are undisputed facts. by Sharifa Stevens

by Stephanie Morris-Graves

But this case, which has rocked the cultural landscape of the United States, is fraught with tension: Why was the black 17-year-old shot? When did George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old Hispanic neighborhood watch captain, decide he had to take matters into his own hands? Was the entire incident racially motivated, a case of the Stand Your Ground Law gone awry, or a legitimate, if tragic, instance of lethal self-defense?

The Christian community’s response has been varied: by Julie Lyons everything from protesting pastors and congregations to those who caution that any response is Biblically unwise and premature. Three of our MannaEXPRESS writers—Sharifa Stevens, Stephanie Morris-Graves, and Julie Lyons—decided to talk about the Trayvon Martin case, as well as the racial tension that surrounds it. Our dialogue began with this question:

What was your reaction to Trayvon Martin’s death?

Fulton, Trayvon’s mom. My heart burned for her and for me. I have a son. He’s 4. And he’s brown like Trayvon. And every day when he gets home from school he changes into his favorite blue and red striped hoodie—a too-little jacket he’s had since he was a toddler—because he thinks it’s cool. He likes the brightly colored stripes. He’s so innocent. But in his hoodie he’s just another suspicious-looking black kid, right? He’s up to no good, packing a gun, looking for a house to break into, a white woman to carjack, or drugs to sell. No, he isn’t. But to many, many people...that’s exactly what my sweet little man is.

SHARIFA STEVENS: I thought, “No...no. Not again.” I remember the hunted terror that overcame the black community in New York City when Amadou Diallo was killed by police, in front of his apartment door, while reaching for his wallet. He was shot 41 times. Diallo fit the description of a serial rapist in the area, according to the officers, and in the darkness, it looked like he was reaching for a gun, so they shot him 41 times—in self-defense. Diallo had no weapons; just a wallet. Diallo was coming home from dinner, and committed no crime. Diallo was just 23 years old. Diallo’s death is tattooed in my psyche because he and I were the same age when he died. And because, like me, he’s black. It seems like blackness in itself is an acceptable defense for would-be killers. Being black = looking like a criminal. Looking like a criminal = being treated like a criminal, i.e. being put down like a dog. Afterward, the burden of proof is on the victim (or the victim’s family) to prove his innocence, even post-mortem. Even when no crime was actually committed.

“I have a son. He’s 4. And he’s brown like Trayvon.”

STEPHANIE MORRISGRAVES: Frustration and anger, but not surprise. And that’s probably the saddest part—in 2012, an unarmed young black man can be shot and killed for “looking suspicious” and no arrests are made—and I’m not surprised. I should be floored. I should be able to, in confusion, cry out, “How in the world did this happen?” But no, I could only shake my head in resignation and try to make sense of the senseless. And that’s when my mind and heart turned to Sybrina

I listen, I observe, and I search for understanding. I do see why black Americans are so insulted by people telling them in the Trayvon case, “Keep calm, let’s wait till all the facts are in, let the system take its course…”

Anyone who speaks out on the victim’s behalf, anyone who voices grief or anger concerning the strange circumstances around the victim’s death, is labeled a race-baiter. To talk about reasons why someone who committed no crime and had no weapons was gunned down? Well, that’s just stirring up old racial flames. This same kind of reprimand probably surrounded those who wailed and protested after the murder of Emmett Till. Let cooler heads prevail. Let the justice system do its job. Don’t make this about race when it’s clearly about

an insolent boy who had the nerve to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, thinking he had the right to—fill in the blank: walk down any street he pleases, whistle at a white girl, defend himself if he’s being followed by a stranger, pull out a wallet. Invalidating, dismissing, and condescending to people who condemn racism and demand equal justice is not new, nor is it fanning old flames. There is a basic right to life that sparks the grief and anger surrounding Trayvon Martin’s murder. This same right to life compels me to advocate for the unborn. It’s the right to life that was snatched from Trayvon Martin. I wish more of my brothers and sisters in Christ would see this case as a right-to-life issue, and fight like heaven to eradicate the circumstances that led to this end. Fanning old flames? Give me a break. These racial flames are fanned and fed by the majority culture all the time, every day. To live, I have had to learn to walk through fire.

JULIE LYONS: I had no reaction to Trayvon Martin’s

death at first. I was caught flat-footed by the passions his death provoked. I found myself in a situation I’ve been

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about blacks, or Hispanics, or Africans, or whatever.

STEPHANIE: Some days I don’t notice racism. Some

“Fanning old flames? Give me a break. These racial flames are fanned and fed by the majority culture all the time, every day. To live, I have had to learn to walk through fire.”

days there isn’t any directed at me that I’m aware of. But I’ve also learned how to ignore racism, ignore ignorance. When someone comes up to me and says, “Your baby is so cute. Black babies are always so cute,” I smile and say something PC, like, “Thank you... babies are such a blessing, aren’t they?”

The conversation in my mind plays out differently: “‘Cute’ like a little monkey? What if I came up to you and said, ‘White babies are always so cute’—how would you feel, lady? Special? How about weird and singled out?”

about being treated with contempt, and the times I’ve felt the coldness of prejudice directed at me from someone I’m close to—I have felt a rage and helplessness swell inside me with so much power it terrifies me. But, unlike black Americans, I have not had a lifetime of being forced to constrain that rage.

STEPHANIE: I’ve been called a nigger to my face by a

white person before. Most of us have at least once in our life. I’ve been ignored. I’ve had my credentials questioned. I’ve had bad service. And who’s to say whether racism played a part in every instance? But that’s the hard part. Racism is a pervasive problem in our country; we have a long history with this issue; it’s so easily disguised or hidden; so for a lot of black people, we automatically default to the assumption that any mistreatment is the result of racism.

SHARIFA: When I tell people here that I’m from the

Bronx, they presume I got a lousy education, was part of a gang, and escaped by the skin of my teeth. Really—I’ve been asked if I was in a gang. By a friend who I’d known First off, it’s condescending. a while (but we talked and straightened it all out). One of the best schools in the entire country is in the Bronx Second, the facts are never “all in.” Years of experience as a (they say Riverdale, because of all the bad press the Bronx crime reporter for major publications taught me that there “Stephanie, she meant well.” gets, but really, it’s in the Bronx). I graduated from there. are always significant disputed facts. I went to an Ivy League college. I love New York City. But “Is she patting herself on the back right now for paying a people see me and hear the Bronx and their fear meter goes Third, justice isn’t blind. She’s got at least one eye cocked compliment to black people?” through the roof. Is jumping to inaccurate conclusions against people of color and individuals of any background racist? I don’t know...I guess it depends on what happens who don’t have money. In Dallas County, in fact, money These kinds of things happen every day. Is it racism? I don’t next. A discussion...or dismissal...or death. buys you justice in criminal cases. If you’re black or Hispanic know, but I tend to lump it in that pile. and don’t have the funds to hire a competent lawyer, you’re JULIE: But how do we know for sure that someone’s going down. I know that from years as a reporter. I intentionally wear a pricey pair of Tory Burch flats to bad treatment was racially motivated? We don’t always. certain stores because I know if I go in wearing those shoes, But one thing we do know for sure is that prejudice and But last, and most important, people exercise snap I might get some service or at least be acknowledged by the hatred are part of the sinful judgments all the time based on color—he looks staff. It works, by the way. human condition. They “suspicious,” he’s dressed like a thug—but this time it got are firmly lodged in the someone killed. SHARIFA: No one’s really human heart, and it only a racist anymore, right? takes the right combination So, I’ve had a kind of slow-burn reaction. I didn’t make an But I shop online because of pressures for them to be instant identification with Trayvon, but I know I should I’m sick of getting looked exposed. Prejudice is really have. The Christ in me cries out now—because of the up and down by security the default position. We hatred, the injustice, the unchallenged and untouched upon entering a clothing fear the unknown; we fear prejudice. What I feel in my gut is a sense of despair about store. People don’t make what we don’t understand. the racial divisions in this country and in the church. eye contact with me at Whites who downplay the some of my husband’s work prevalence of racial prejudice What are the forms racism and prejudice take in events until they see him really have a puffed-up view everyday life? with me (he’s white). People of man: I am beyond and see me and don’t assume above such things because JULIE: One thing I’ve noticed is that white Americans the best. And I don’t strike of my intelligence, my social have a strong tendency to dismiss or downplay incidents an imposing figure. I’m awareness, my spiritual of racial prejudice. I’ve done it myself. Years ago, a friend ridiculously bright and sensitivity. might tell me how a hotel clerk had treated her poorly whimsical-looking. So, because of her color. “Are you sure?” I’d ask. Sometimes if I’m a 5’5” caramel sunshine-and-rainbows beauty and STEPHANIE: I do believe that many white people start I was standing right in front of the clerk, and I didn’t see people are scared to look at me, what do they think of my with the presumption that these incidents we’re describing what my friend saw. I said “Are you sure?” quite a few brown-skinned brothers with their deep voices and tall are not race-related. I grapple with whether it’s simply a times back then, and I’m surprised I didn’t get smacked in statures? And—gasp—tattoos? byproduct of being in the majority or the lack of awareness the face. I think that many white people begin with the of white privilege or a combination of both. However, presumption that we are innocent and free of prejudice. JULIE: I discern the presence of racism, prejudice, and hatred I think most whites downplay the prevalence of racial Maybe that’s why I’ve often heard white people say, “Well, at times, but most of the time I don’t feel it in my gut. The I’m not prejudiced, but…” and then launch into a diatribe few times I have—when a loved one who’s black tells me continued on page 13

“It is a wretched feeling to have your heart misjudged. It bothers me, because I have observed that many black Americans don’t confront their own prejudice.”

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“God Could Raise Him Up”

Aric Dang beat all the odds and survived a horrific auto accident because of fervent, focused intercessory prayer

As Dang was rushed to the closest hospital, Methodist Charlton Medical Center near Duncanville, word of his condition spread rapidly. Mahogany Dilonga, a friend of Dang’s since sixth grade, heard about it from a friend while taking her sister to tumbling He did. practice. She arrived to find scores Witness Doctors then said he would of people already filling the hospital by Chuck Goldberg not survive the night. lobby, praying urgently, though no one knew the full extent of Dang’s injuries. She said prayer was the only thing at He did. their disposal, so that’s what they were going to do. They said even if he did last the night, he might never regain consciousness or recover his mental faculties. They “You could feel the energy,” Dilonga suggested to his parents that they consider pulling the Aric Dang was out of the ICU but still unresponsive when this picture was taken. recalls. “We were all focused on him plug, since he lacked brain activity. Knowing his spirit was alive, friends gathered and prayed continually and praying for him in the lobby posed grave risks. In the end, he underwent numerous and outside the entrance. We had no control over the They were wrong again—on all counts. surgeries, he says, even at one point a stomach procedure situation, but we knew the One who had control. It was because his feeding tube became infected. all up to Him, so we were going to pray.” None of this is a testament to Dang’s recuperative powers but to God responding to the fervent prayers of Paulette Kincaid, whose daughter is Dang’s good friend Since only one or two visitors were allowed in his room an estimated 150 friends and fellow students and youth and one-time Trinity Christian classmate, arrived with her at one time, the group remained downstairs praying group members throughout his ordeal. husband John to find so many people in the lobby, the together or in small groups, according to Dang’s friend hospital staff occasionally asked them to step out to make Katee Hennesey, a big believer in divine healing, along Driving alone, Dang was headed home from basketball practice on November 16, 2005, on FM 1382 in Grand with her good friend Rachel Kincaid and her parents John room for others to enter. and Paulette. Hennesey also Prairie. His plan was fasted for Dang, as did many Kincaid says Dang’s Vietnamese parents felt somewhat to get ready for that overwhelmed by all the medical information and decisions others, and they visited evening’s youth service that confronted them, especially with their language Dang every day as their at Trinity Christian in barrier. Dang’s parents, however, drew encouragement schedules permitted, all the Cedar Hill, where he from her and her husband, she says, particularly when way until Christmas Day. also attended school as a they urged his parents not to accept the doctors’ 16-year-old junior. suggestion to pull the plug. “We didn’t get a lot of answers from doctors, so we He acknowledges “We suggested that we all pray that much harder,” Kincaid prayed out of desperation. exceeding the 60 mph That’s how I felt,” Hennesey says. “We stated we believed that God could raise him up.” limit in a hilly area. He says. “I fasted out of said he had hung up after Throughout Dang’s hospitalization, the Kincaids took desperation. There was a a cell phone chat with his charge of his spiritual environment to set an atmosphere constant attitude of prayer best friend, discussing a for healing. Paulette Kincaid says although Dang’s body whenever we went to visit song he’d just heard on him. We just believed that prayer was a crucial part of the was hurt and his soul was quiet in a coma, his spirit was the radio. He remembers the car swerving and grazing very much alive and well. Thus, they constantly played healing process. We felt it was vital to him staying alive.” the median. His next recollection was awakening in the worship music in his room to connect to Dang’s spirit. hospital about 2 ½ weeks later. Paulette also obtained healing Scriptures from the Internet Unable to breathe or eat, Dang required a tracheotomy in Vietnamese with English translations, and posted them and feeding tube. He had suffered frontal brain injuries That’s because his airbag never deployed and he hit around Dang’s room. and his head was badly swollen; plus, he faced the risk his head on the steering wheel, sending him into an of additional internal bleeding that could cause his head immediate coma. Much later, he would learn that his car Also, she advocated that no negative talk ever occur in rolled at least nine times, coming to rest upside down in a to swell even more. He was soon airlifted to Methodist Dang’s presence. Too often, she says, people pray for Dallas Medical Center, where he later faced potentially grassy area, according to witnesses. healing but speak doubt in the next breath, such as fatal exploratory brain surgery, but taking no action also aramedics said Aric Dang would never make it alive to the hospital after he crashed and rolled his car multiple times.

“We had no control over the situation, but we knew the One who had control. It was all up to Him, so we were going to pray.”

April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 10

repeating what the doctors say or citing statistics that 75 percent of patients don’t ever emerge from a coma. “My husband and I became the police of words,” she says. “We’d say, ‘That’s what the doctor says, but the Word says that when we pray, He hears us.’ The doctor says what the doctor knows, but the doctor is not God. The spirit has to take over before the mind decides it’s impossible.”

the same children’s hospital where he rehabbed. “Being around the children and seeing what they were going through made me feel the need to help any way I could when I got out of the hospital,” Dang says.

Except for scars on his arms and head, Dang says, you would not know anything happened to him. He says Kincaid also took pains to thoroughly research Dang’s he still has memory problems and condition so everyone could specifically target their struggles with his moods and decisionprayers, a practice she has always employed when praying making because he lacks serotonin. for healing. Thus, she spearheaded prayer for specific neurons and neurotransmitters in Dang’s brain to reattach Consequently, he suffers from depression on his down days, asking God why and much more. She printed this information along with pages of Scripture and made it available to all intercessors. this had to happen; plus, he lost his opportunity for a college basketball career. He says his friends told him later “We’d tell them this is what we’re believing, so when it Aric Dang before the accident. Today he is a 22-year-old nursing student that during his hospitalization, The happens, he will come out of his coma and have all of his at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Dallas Morning News had named him memory,” she recalls. “We’d pray over his brain that way. We’d thank God and we’d hold hands and not allow people one of the top basketball prospects in Texas. Yet, on his better days, exist. Considering the state he was in, Dang knows that now to realize their fears.” he knows it all happened for having a shot at sports is a miracle on its own. a reason, God is the answer, Less than two weeks after and that he will prevail if he “Don’t doubt God. He will always be there,” he says. “Even Dang emerged from his perseveres. coma, he was transferred when you think He won’t, He is. What happened to me to Cook Children’s has been an inspiration to many.” “I know I can go to God and Medical Center in Fort that He’s the only one who Worth for physical rehab, Hennesey is one of many who echo that sentiment. can get me through this,” where he spent another Dang says. “I’ve learned that “It was such an emotional experience for everyone, but month. After his eventual He is by my side through discharge, he took online it really shaped our faith,” she says. “It was one of those everything, even when courses to catch up to his critical moments in our walk with God that’s hard going nobody else is there. I have class and graduated with through, but something you can look back on and always really felt His presence.” them. He then went to know that because God helped me through this, He can Tarrant County College get me through anything.” • Still retaining the speed he and today is a 22-yearhad hoped to use in college old nursing major at Chuck Goldberg has a degree in journalism and a Master of basketball, Dang is now Texas Tech University in Divinity in Christian education. A former newspaper reporter training to make Texas Tech’s and magazine managing editor, he is now an ordained Lubbock. His expected football team as a walk-on graduation date is minister and freelance writer-editor. He and his wife Dolly receiver or cornerback. His doctors have cleared him to play, have three children and live in Layton, Utah. December 2013. it’s something he has always wanted to try, and he figures his chances are better for football because more roster spots He says he chose nursing so he can eventually work at

“We didn’t get a lot of answers from doctors, so we prayed out of desperation. There was a constant attitude of prayer whenever we went to visit him. We felt it was vital to him staying alive.”

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Manna Confidential My husband wants to have sex all the time, and, truth be told, I don’t enjoy it much at all. I find myself avoiding him at night. Sometimes I go to sleep early. I don’t seem to have much interest in sex, but Mrs. Happy he does, and I want to do what’s right. • • • God created husbands and wives to be one (Genesis 2:24). He designed them for harmony: physically, emotionally, spiritually. When He created man and woman, He knew what He was doing. So Mrs. Happy always begins with the premise that a husband and wife can and will mesh sexually, with God’s help and with each other’s love and patience. Mrs. Happy doesn’t believe that God created men to have monstrously larger sexual appetites than women, but she has observed, sadly, that this is a myth propagated by countless Christian books on marriage, with no basis whatsoever in Scripture. Nope, He created us for oneness. He pronounced His creation “good.” Then sin entered the picture, and everything got messed up. Men and women began to use sex for selfish purposes, and it just so happens the stakes are much higher for women because of pregnancy. Quite a few wives find themselves with diminished or completely absent sexual desire, especially after the initial thrill of marriage has worn off. Often by this time, sex has become a disappointing experience, and the wife feels like something is wrong with her because she doesn’t enjoy sex as much as her husband seems to.

What Do You See? continued from page 9

experiences with sex. It surges and remains strong when sex is physically satisfying, when there’s security in the marriage relationship, and when she trusts her husband enough to allow him to bring her to climax.

1. Sex isn’t physically satisfying.

When a woman has had awful experiences with sex— because of rape, abuse, or sinful sexual relationships—her sex drive can be snuffed out altogether.

Sure, she might put up with sex because she loves her husband and wants to do right by him, but she won’t be looking forward to the experience. Remember, her sex drive grows through good experiences with sex—and the anticipation of physical pleasure (read: climax).

Even in a good marriage, her sex drive is a delicate thing. It is easily disrupted by harsh words, by anger (Mrs. Happy has observed that an angry man is the unsexiest man in the world), by external circumstances that make her feel less than secure. Her sex drive waxes and wanes, based on her monthly cycle and its corresponding changes in hormonal levels. She is more interested in sex at some times (often, the few days surrounding ovulation and right before menstruation), less interested at other times.

A woman’s sex drive is cultivated through good experiences with sex. It surges and remains strong when sex is physically satisfying and there’s security in the marriage relationship.

The first thing we need to do is pray. God cares about every little detail of our lives. And since He created sex, He wants you to participate in the blessing He meant it to be. Mrs. Happy has taken it upon herself to pray for her loved ones’ sex lives—hey, someone’s gotta do it—but you can pray all by yourself and ask God to increase your desire for your husband, improve communication and understanding between the two of you, and bring mutual pleasure to the relationship. God will answer your prayer of faith, because your desire is to honor Him.

A man’s sex drive, by contrast, is just kinda there all the time—unless he’s depressed, ill, preoccupied, or physically exhausted. From adolescence on, his body is continually producing sperm, and it builds up to the point where he’s physically uncomfortable and needs release. When he sees his wife, he sees relief. He’s good to go. He wants in.

It will help to know the difference between men’s and women’s sex drives, and three main reasons why women lose interest in sex.

But in order to know how to pray targeted prayers and seek healing and restoration in the areas where you might need it, let’s look briefly at three major reasons why a wife would have little or no interest in sex, and what can be done about it.

First, a woman’s sex drive is cultivated through good

All of this means that husbands and wives need to be considerate of each other, understand each other’s bodies and each other’s weaknesses, and exercise wisdom.

Would a man continually seek to have sex if it didn’t end in climax? Of course not. So why would it be any different for his wife?

Sex isn’t physically satisfying for many wives because their husbands don’t know what they’re doing (after all, he has never been a woman), and because their wives don’t give them enough information on how to arouse them and bring them to climax. Which isn’t a criticism of husband or wife—it’s just a common predicament. When you get married, know that you’ll have to take time to learn how to please your spouse sexually. No matter how many experiences you’ve had with sex in the past, assume you’re on the short bus when it comes to your spouse. Ask questions; try different things; make no assumptions (and please don’t think it’ll work because you did it with some girlfriend back in your sinful days; there’s a good chance she was faking it, anyway). If you’ve been married for a while and aren’t experiencing satisfying sex, it’s time for a fresh start—which will be Mrs. Happy’s subject next month. Be encouraged and stay tuned.

2. She’s had bad experiences with sex. Sexual trauma, such as abuse and rape—as well as guilt and regret from a sinful past, infidelity, and broken relationships—can cause destruction to a woman’s natural, healthy sex drive. If you have a good relationship with your husband, consider talking to him about it. He will be more understanding than you think, and will help you seek restoration through the healing touch of Jesus Christ and/or counseling. Above all, pray. God cares about your situation and longs to make you whole. After you’ve received spiritual restoration, just know that you and your husband will still need to learn effective sexual practices that allow your body to respond as it’s designed to.

3. Someone’s messin’ with her hormones. Believe it or not, birth control pills are a libido-killer for many women. They suppress the natural hormones and times of the monthly cycle that contribute to a woman’s sex drive. The pill could be a factor if you’re experiencing diminished interest in sex. Good old-fashioned barrier methods—e.g. condoms—might be better for you. • Mrs. Happy has been married to one man for a long time.

April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 12

prejudice not because they think they’re above it, but because, as in your experience, they don’t see what we see, and so therefore, to them, it just doesn’t exist. The arrogance and the puffed-up view come in when you don’t take our word for it, when you blow it off because our word is not as valuable as your beliefs. But how could you see it? It’s almost impossible. Our life experiences color how we process information. My filters include being black, being a woman, being a mom, being educated, being a wife, being a Texan, being American... they don’t include being white. I don’t know what “white” feels like on the inside.

And with prejudice and racism, the wounds are often re-opened. Just when you think you’ve reached a healthy place, a place of forgiveness and restoration, an employee at a department store looks right past you and goes to offer service to a white person, or a young unarmed black man gets murdered and no arrests are made. And then we’re told to make sure we examine our own hearts, reminded that we can be racists too. We’re the victims (and I’m sure someone will say we have a victim mentality), but we’re expected to make it right or forgive and move on. It’s too much. It’s frustrating and it’s upsetting.

wicked human hearts. Does my sin stink more in God’s eyes because I am the color of the oppressor?

SHARIFA: Jesus was healing, teaching, and loving, and multitudes followed him: curious, thirsty for healing, hungry for liberation. He sat on the side of a mountain and blew their minds by saying this:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. But guess what, we still have to steady our emotions, put Blessed are the meek, on a game face, smile and get back out there and try to for they will inherit the earth. live a full, complete, happy life in Christ in spite of all Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Now, most black people, particularly those of us who have this. It’s fine. We’re used to it. Some of us are better than for they will be filled. grown up around white people and have similar lifestyles, others at dealing/ignoring/tolerating/denying/justifying/ Blessed are the merciful, coping with it. We’ll still teach our kids that they can be are quite adept at adapting to and understanding white for they will be shown mercy. anything they want. Because I do believe they can. They’ll Blessed are the pure in heart, culture. We’ve had to understand white people, but most just have to deal with a lot of stuff along the way...but white people have never had to understand us. My point for they will see God. hey, that’s life. The bottom line is we live in a fallen world. Blessed are the peacemakers, is, unless you’re black, there’s really no way to see racism Heaven will be much cooler. unless it’s blatant, egregious. Most of the time it’s subtle, for they will be called children of God. beneath the radar, undetectable to most whites. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. JULIE: I accept that most racism is subtle and undetectable There is a perennial struggle for importance among people to the vast majority of whites. But isn’t there a point where who are different from one another: browner, paler, richer, it’s dangerous to think we can peer inside someone’s heart poorer, older, younger. Jesus came to abolish the walls and judge a particular person or action racist in motive? that we have built—but not in the way we expect. He was I say this because I’ve had my motives judged. And the unjustly accused, scourged, and murdered for His perceived judgment was false. It is a wretched feeling to have your rebellion (too much fraternizing with undesirables, too little heart misjudged. It bothers me, because I have observed respect for their laws) in the sight of the “haves”; he was that many black Americans don’t confront their own lauded, abandoned, and condemned (initially hopeful that prejudice. He would overturn Roman authority and lead a political rebellion, then disappointed by His spiritual emphasis) by And yes, I see the irony of what I’m saying. Because black the “have-nots.” Americans are judged all the time, in awful ways. And it is wretched indeed. The frustration and helplessness I have I trust that Jesus gets it. I trust that He will redeem this. felt were almost unbearable, but I willingly put myself in I trust that He indeed blesses those who are merciful, and the situation. I can leave if I want to and go back to the so I want that blessing. majority culture. It is a different matter altogether for black Americans. Trayvon Martin was judged, and the It comes down to this: Jesus shares the parable of the judge was also his executioner. Good Samaritan to a crowd of pious Jews (who, by the JULIE: Prejudice is sin, and I know of only one way to way, hate Samaritans) to illustrate the virtue of being a Prejudice is a horrible thing. But we need to be careful deal with sin: repent. When you repent, Jesus Christ about what we “see” in a person’s heart—especially in the forgives your sin and takes you on a journey in which He good neighbor to those who you encounter, period. Not body of Christ. cleanses you of all unrighteousness. But, as I’ve discovered, parsing who should be a good neighbor to you, and not choosing who to be kind to and who to shun. there are surprises on that journey. You discover layers of prejudice beneath prejudice, with sordid little pockets of STEPHANIE: Sure, there are many black people who I hope that the Christ-followers that I encounter are good stuff that comes awfully close to hatred. You see yourself are prejudiced. I know many who hate white people tested and tried and found wanting. You want to give up, neighbors. At the end of the day, though, my charge from altogether, and group all white people as racists, and that’s not fair. And Christians should always confess and especially when it seems like not many of your peers even my King is to be a good neighbor, period. • repent of hate in our hearts. But I know for sure it comes bother with this journey, and they seem to be doing just from a place of deep hurt. Victims of sexual abuse often fine. But the Christ in you compels you to go deeper, and Continue the dialogue online by leaving your comments at as long as you guard your heart and keep it soft, you find www.mannaexpressonline.com. carry distrust and anger into every aspect of their lives yourself changing. Irrevocably. even well after their abuse comes to an end. No one is telling or asking them, “Oh, that was so far in the past, why can’t you just get over it and move on?” The wounds My question is, how many Christians repent of prejudice? I mean blacks as well as whites. We all begin alike with are still there.

“Our life experiences color how we process information. My filters include being black, being a woman, being a mom, being educated, being American...they don’t include being white.”

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A Shofar too Far I

t’s OK to tone down certain charismatic manifestations to make church visitors feel welcome.

I love it when the Holy Spirit moves in a church FIRE IN MY BONES service. But I also by J. Lee Grady know there’s a fine line between charismatic and charismaniac. Too often, those of us who love spiritual gifts get carried away—and before too long things get strange. What is supernatural turns weird, and what is prophetic becomes pathetic. This is not a new problem. Two chapters of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians are devoted to this dilemma. Even in the First Century, people misused charismatic gifts to get attention. The abuse of speaking in tongues created pandemonium, and the lack of order invited an apostolic rebuke. I’m mentioning this topic now because Resurrection Sunday is coming up—and more visitors will show up at Easter services than on any other day of the year. Hopefully all those visitors will hear the gospel and feel God’s power—rather than walk away confused because overzealous or immature saints ruined the experience. I’ve never been a fan of the “seeker-friendly” philosophy. I don’t want to limit God or tell Him what He can or can’t do in church. But there’s nothing wrong with creating healthy barriers so that certain “characters” in your congregation don’t ruin the meeting or scare people. In my years of ministry I’ve identified the AllTime Worst Meeting Spoilers. 1. Bertha the Banner Queen. Colorful pageantry can enhance a worship experience, if it’s done tastefully. It can also be horribly distracting if the banners look like cheap props from a high-school version of Camelot. They also can trigger lawsuits, especially if someone from the arts ministry whacks a visitor in the head with

a wooden pole or jabs them in the eye! If you are using flags or banners, insist that carriers stay far enough away from people to avoid accidents. 2. Norm the Ninja Warrior. This is the guy who insists on waving a sword (and not a plastic one) near the stage during worship. Someone needs to remind this man that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood” (see Ephesians 6:12). When my kids were small I took them to a charismatic church where people waved swords and shields during worship. One of my daughters was horrified and begged me never to take her again to what she called “the sword church.”

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone ruin a worship service by snorting into a ram’s horn. If it is blown by an amateur, it sounds more like a tortured animal. 3. Darla the Dancing Diva. Dancing is a legitimate form of worship, and it’s entirely Biblical (see 2 Samuel 6:14) when done in holiness. But we are inviting disaster if we allow someone with unresolved sexual issues to get on the stage and writhe like a stripper while the congregation cringes. Church is no place for the daughter of Herodias to perform in gym shorts. 4. Herschel the Shofar Blower. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone ruin a worship service by snorting into a ram’s horn. This ancient Biblical instrument can rouse God’s people to

action if blown correctly. But if it is blown by an amateur, it sounds more like a tortured animal— especially when amplified by a state-of-the-art sound system. If you open your worship with a pitiful “MMMMWWWWAAAUUNNNCCCKKK!” sound, your visitors will remember the pain you caused their ears—and they will never return. 5. Manny the Manifester. If you want visitors to head for the door before the sermon begins, make sure this guy gets overly excited during worship. He might fall on the floor, vibrate, or act like he is having convulsions. (And he will tell you he can’t control himself when the “anointing” hits.) Meanwhile, visitors seated behind him will assume he needs medical attention. When they realize this is acceptable behavior for your congregation, they will run out! 6. Agnes the King James Prophetess. Nothing dampens the mood of a church more than a raspyvoiced church member who feels it is his or her duty to scold everyone with a pointed finger. After the angry rebuke, they always tack on the obligatory “THUS SAITH GAWD!” Don’t let angry people practice their prophetic gift on an audience. When a true prophetic message is given it will be tempered by love, and the congregation will feel encouraged and edified (see 1 Corinthians 14:3). And remember: Mature prophets will speak in a normal voice rather than channeling the Elizabethan version of James Earl Jones. The Apostle Paul was “seeker-friendly” in the best way. He urged the Corinthians to leave room for spiritual gifts, but he also warned them to avoid charismatic excesses. If you are sensitive to “Easter only” seekers, they will be more likely to listen to your message and come back next week instead of waiting a year to see if you’ve changed. • J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma magazine. You can learn more about his ministry at www.themordecaiproject.org. This article is reprinted by permission from Charisma magazine online.

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The Broken Road

Thelma Wells—“Mama T” to her many admirers—refused bittnerness and seized her God-given destiny to be somebody

“S

Far Above Rubies by May Olusola

people and respect.”

top believing the lie that someone stopped you,” Thelma Wells says. “Stop blaming folks for you being here. People have to earn your respect and you theirs before you can preach to them. You have to have love and show it to win

Thelma Wells knows what she’s talking about. Her life story is full of tests that birthed the testimonies she uses to encourage others, while the scars from her past are the bright stars of leadership and mentorship shining around her today. Her mother—an unwed crippled teenager—gave birth to her in 1941. Embarrassed by Thelma’s illegitimate birth, her maternal grandmother put her and her mother out of the house and refused to have anything to do with them.

Segregation and open racism were the norm in the era Thelma grew up in. Rather than brood over the injustices she experienced repeatedly, she made up her mind to rise above the situation and do whatever it took to be a better person. “I was called all kinds of names, was thrown out of school because of my color,” she says. “In college, I was in a class for four months where the teacher could not bring herself to write my name on the blackboard. She said, ‘I have never taught a Negress in my life and do not plan to start now.’ She gave me a C when I deserved an A. I was courageous enough to confront her gently.” “I have been thrown out of places and refused a hamburger till I went to the back to get one that had been discarded because it was messed up,” she continues. “I have stood in a street car after giving my seat up for a white kid. I went to segregated schools till I went to college. I have been there, done that, but never thought of myself as unqualified or disqualified.”

All of those struggles seem far away from the glory Thelma basks in today as a trailblazer for women. In 1963, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from North Texas Thelma’s mother State University in Denton began working as a (now the University of maid and lived with North Texas). She was her daughter in the among the first group of servant quarters till African-American girls in her maternal greatthe dormitories. She became grandparents took a teacher shortly after, and the girl to live with in 1964 she was the first them. With her greatAfrican-American woman grandparents, Thelma in the South to be hired as a went to church daily. secretary in the John Deere They were devout Company. She also became Christians, and it was the first African-American through them and woman to become an the church that she assistant vice president of a experienced the love commercial bank in Dallas. of Christ, learned to In 1980, Thelma became pray and sing hymns the first African-American at a very early age. On woman in the South to some occasions, she organize her own international speaking and consulting went to visit her grandparents. When her grandfather corporation. In 1996, she became the first Africanwent to work, her grandmother would lock her in a dark, dingy, insect-infested closet without food or water American core speaker of the Women of Faith tour, where till it was time for her grandfather to come home. “I was she spoke to more than 400,000 women each year for scared in the closet but would sing myself to sleep with 12 years. She received a master’s degree from Master’s International School of Divinity in Evansville, Indiana, the songs I learned from church,” she says.

“When we accept Jesus, things change because we are new creatures. I never saw myself as a black woman struggling. I always saw myself being somebody, not a black somebody but somebody successful.”

and in 2002, she became the school’s first AfricanAmerican female professor. In spite of her accolades, titles, conferences, and books, Thelma has been happily married for 51 years to her biggest supporter, George Wells, and they have three children, Lisa, Vicki, and George F. Wells; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. She’s known affectionately as “Mama T.” In 2006, Thelma was diagnosed with cancer and given one month to live. Her miraculous healing is among the testimonies she uses to encourage others today. MannaEXPRESS sat down with Thelma recently to hear her remarkable story.

The first time I ever heard about you was on the cover of a “Women of Faith” book that a friend gave me. I would never have imagined you went through a lot. How did you find it in your heart to forgive your grandmother? I did not have unforgiveness or bitterness or anger toward her. Remember, I sang my way out of those times in her closet. God set me up, because He knew that thirtysomething years after, I would take care of my grandmother. I was able to take care of her for 19

April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 18

gets angry at the drop of a hat—then you know you’re in for trouble, and when you get married, he will use you as a possession and not as a wife. Be alert, watch what is going on around you, listen to what is being said, be quiet, listen to what your spirit is telling you, and be of good cheer.

second week after the first surgery, my stomach burst and I was back in the hospital on life support in the ICU with the doctor telling my family I had only one month to live. When I was told I would need another surgery or three rounds of chemotherapy, I refused and told him if I die, I win and will be with Jesus. I How were you able to rise from where you came told the oncologist that Jesus was my option. For three months I laid in bed unable to do anything. I had no from to your position in the banking industry feeling in my lower extremities for a year. I couldn’t It is amazing that despite growing up in and consulting? bathe; all I could eat was Ensure. I kept asking God With a little bank experience in a proof machinist job a segregated society, you exude so much what He was up to in my case, but He was silent for during a part-time working mother’s project, one day I confidence and stand your ground even in months. I could not even hold my Bible or pick up went up and told the manager of the Comerica Bank by the face of bias. Where did your mindset anything. I prayed to God for new organs. In between NorthPark that they need to hire me. “Why do we need come from? seeing a very good doctor based in Houston, following to hire you?” he asked, and I told him because “I am a I never accepted what was happening around me. I did a strict diet, praying and trusting God, fire started smart woman, a fast learner, and you need me here.” This domestic work one day in my life where I cleaned this went on for two months till they hired me as a file clerk. I coming and I started feeling sensation till I recovered woman’s house, and that is the day I said, “No more, stayed there for nine months, then they made me in charge from my illness. Every organ I have right now works there is a better life than me cleaning toilets, moving fine. I went back for my test, and the nurse could not furniture, cleaning the copper, raking the leaves and all.” of new accounts. I got promoted to banking officer and find anything, especially the breast cancer I was told I started teaching at the American Institute of Banking in When we accept Jesus, things change because we are downtown Dallas from1978 to 1991. I taught for the Bank had. The Lord delivered me. new creatures. We have to pray every day. I never saw myself as a black woman struggling. I always saw myself being somebody, not a black somebody but somebody What is Project Hope? How are you successful. When I graduated from high school, I was encouraging hope in the hearts of those who voted as one of the most likely to succeed. I have been are going through one thing or the other? in different situations where I was paid less than others The Lord said to me about a year and a half ago, and discriminated on, but I had to count it all joy why are you only speaking to people who can pay although it was not joyful. In all the bias and prejudice, you? I said, “God, you know that is my job, and you God always said these two words to me: “Trust me.” know I need to eat.” I started thinking and praying about how he was leading me to people who had no hope—the prostitutes I mentor and love; the Dallas Fifty-one years of marriage is no joke. Based Life Foundation, where I mentor men and women; the on your experience, what advice do you have Bethlehem Foundation, where help is given to people for brides, bridesmaids, and married couples who fell through the cracks in the system; the Uptown in general? Women’s Center for pregnant women with unwanted In 1961, my husband George and I got married. I pregnancies; and as the grandmother of the Hope thought my wedding was perfect—everything fell in Mansion, I help people with unwanted pregnancies. place. I came back from my honeymoon and looked These people are homeless, some helpless, hopeless, at my pictures, and my slip was hanging all the way jobless; and in line with the Lord’s instruction, I am down on the floor. It was not a perfect wedding, but giving them hope in all ways possible. I wish someone had told me what I know now. You need to get yourself prepared to add someone else to Administration Institute all over the state of Texas and in your life. Do not rely on your feelings and emotions. What do you see yourself doing in the next Minneapolis and Illinois. Everything I learned was put in Men are wired differently. Don’t expect your husband five years? a book, which became my first book, called The Legalities to be your friend; your husband can’t be, because his I see myself continuing to travel and speak. I see myself and Documentation of New Accounts. I started being called continuing my television show on Direct TV on the brain is like a waffle that comes cut in compartments. from all over the country and never would have believed He can do but one thing at a time. The female brain NRB channel, called BEE the Best With Thelma. I am I’d be a speaker today. In 1980, people were asking me to is like spaghetti; it is just all over the place—it can now distributing “Mama T Says” one-minute radio come speak here and there. I got so many offers, and by do 1,500 things at the same time and still remember programs to many markets in the U.S.A. With my what it is doing. Men are motivated by their position. 1984 I had to make a choice to stay on in the bank and master’s degree in pastoral conflict, I am also going to retire with a gold watch or take a plunge and do my own They want to take care of you. If they don’t say I love do more mentoring and extracting diamonds out of thing. I chose my own thing and started my consulting you every day, it doesn’t mean they don’t love you. If people’s dust. business. I have been speaking all over the world and have someone had told me what I know now, I would not written more than 38 management programs ever since. have tried to change my husband for 50 years. I was What is your message to our readers? trying to make him my girlfriend, I wanted him to go The bottom line is that people need to know that shopping with me and do girly things until the day he After the doctor diagnosed you with cancer and Jesus loves them and there is nothing they can do burst my bubble of trying to make him my girlfriend said you had one month to live, what happened? about that. • instead of my husband. This is not an excuse to leave In 2005, I started getting a little antsy. On December 8, your husband if he does not go shopping with you. Visit www.thelmawells.com for more information. they discovered I had malignant tumor. I had stomach The only time it is acceptable is if he is volatile and cancer, and they took it out but did not get it all. The years, although she never changed from being mean. I learned through her that people are not always going to change, so I had to change in order to deal with her. My grandfather loved me, he was my date for many years, and when I started dating my husband, he was my chairperson. He always told me how pretty and smart I was. He set the tone to make me a real lady.

“I have been in different situations where I was discriminated on, but I had to count it all joy although it was not joyful. In all the bias and prejudice, God always said these two words to me: ‘Trust me.’”

Page 19 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • April 2012

Manna About Town

Manna FUN! Bad Bob! continued from the last issue

Solution to last issue’s crossword!

discussing d Val Warner an i n ri ve ia h City LIVE with Ryan C k on Windy o Bishop Jakes o b ed as le re his recently

David Murphy sharing his test imony with Pastor Jack Graham and members of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano

Star in the East? A woman takes her 16-year-old daughter to the doctor. The doctor says, “Okay, Mrs. Jones, what’s the problem?” The mother says, “It’s my daughter, Debbie. She keeps getting these cravings, she’s putting on weight, and is sick most mornings.”

You and Your Bible Crossword Puzzle Across

Mandisa and Chris August at the ASCAP Christian Music Award s

William McDow

leas

More than 900 Easter baskets we by Preston re donated wood Bap tist Churc to kids in h families Lancaster and Forne y affected the tornad by oes

se Potter’s Hou e act at The

ell and his band during the Night of Praise concert in Dalla s

Debbie says, “No mother! I’ve never even kissed a man!” The doctor walked over to the window and just stares out it. About five minutes pass and finally the mother says,

“Is there something wrong out there doctor?” The doctor gives Debbie a good examination, then turns to The doctor replies, “No, not really, it’s just that the last the mother and says, time anything like this happened, a star appeared in the “Well, I don’t know how to tell you this, but your Debbie east and three wise men came over the hill. I’ll be darned if is pregnant—about 4 months would be my guess.” I’m going to miss it this time!”

nie Badu U.K.-based gospel artist Son concert in Dallas during the Night of Praise

Letting go re

The mother says, “Pregnant?! She can’t be, she has never ever been left alone with a man! Have you, Debbie?”

the Performing Arts Will Graham preaching at the Trinity Valley Will Center in Terrell as part of rch Graham Celebration in Ma Trumpeters at the Night of Pra

ise concert in Dallas

April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 20

1 cleanse, purify (Deut 22:24) 6 Bring my sons from ____ and my daughters (Isa 43:6) 10 Cain talked with ____ his brother (Gen 4:8) 14 Having believed, you were marked in him with ___ ___ (1,4) (Eph 1:13) 15 rabbit (Deut 14:7) (KJV) 16 the poor ____ the gospel preached to them (Matt 11:5) 17 hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and ___ the spider’s web (Isaiah 59:5) 18 and stayed in ___ ___ in the rock (1,4) (Judg 15:8) 20 and for the ____ that is in the land of Assyria. (Isaiah 7:18) 21 complacent, who are like wine left on its ___ (Zeph 1:12) 23 the ___ shall tread out no wine in their presses (Isa 16:10) KJV 26 thou shalt take an ___, and thrust it through his ear (Deut 15:17) KJV 28 Benjamites chased them and ___ overran them (Judg 20:43) 29 and cried, ____: Blessed is the King of Israel (John 12:13) 33 make bare the ____, uncover the thigh (Isaiah 47:2) 35 there is one ___ to the righteous, and to the wicked (Eccles 9:2) 36 saw them with her eyes, she ___ upon them (Ezek 23:16) (KJV) 39 Tabitha, arise. And ___ opened her eyes (Acts 9:40) 41 ____ me, O LORD, in thy righteousness (Ps 5:8) 42 five, ___ ___ twenty days (3,2) (Num 11:19) 43 Many are the ___ of the wicked (Ps 32:10) 44 by his right hand, and by the ___ of his strength (Isaiah 62:8) 45 a man of understanding and knowledge maintains ___ (Prov 28:2) 46 no longer to call her ___; her name will be Sarah.(Gen 17:15) 47 But as the serpent beguiled ____ through his subtilty (2 Cor 11:3) 48 spoken in the ear in ___ shall be proclaimed upon (Luke 12:3) KJV 50 chose five smooth stones from the ___ (1 Sam 17:40) 53 Forsake ____ not, and she shall preserve thee (Prov 4:6) 54 Do not touch my ___ ones (Ps 105:15) 56 Gideon heard the ___ and its interpretation, (Judg 7:15) 60 Eat not of it ____, nor sodden at all with water (Exodus 12:9) 61 a scroll with writing on both ___ and sealed (Rev 5:1) 63 This miraculous sign will ___ tomorrow (Ex 8:23) 65 Adam and Eve both ate from the ___ of good and evil (Gen 3:12-13)

67 Ask, and it shall be given you; ____, and ye shall find (Matt 7:7) 68 gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the ___ world (Matt 24:14) 69 Go, ___ everything you have and give to the poor (Mark 10:21) 70 sent me from Kadesh-barnea to ___ out the land (Josh 14:7) KJV 71 They ___ fields and planted vineyards (Ps 107:37)

Down

1 The LORD who delivered me from the ___ of the lion (1 Sam 17:37) 2 with their tongues they have ____ deceit (Romans 3:13) 3 the God of Israel will be your ___ guard (Isa 52:12) 4 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God ____ unto him (Rev 1:1) 5 mocked him. Dressing him in an ___ robe (Luke 23:11) 6 Because thou saidst, ____, against my sanctuary (Ezek 25:3) KJV 7 who sins breaks the law; in ___, sin is lawlessness (I Jn 3:4) 8 but lips that speak knowledge are ___ ___ jewel (1,4) (Prov 20:15) 9 the Lord of kings and a ___ of mysteries (Dan 2:47) 10 Then said I, ___ Lord GOD! behold (Ezek 4:14) 11 The tower of ___ (Gen 11:9) 12 and the hold of ___ fowl spirit (Rev 18:2) (KJV) 13 a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the ____ (Isaiah 25:6) 19 I mean not that other men be ___, and ye burdened (2 Cor 8:13) (KJV) 22 From the rising of the ____ unto the going down (Ps 113:3) 24 if a man shall ____ a pit, and not cover it, (Exodus 21:33) 25 Arphaxad was the father of ___ (1 Chron 1:18) 27 and ___ every man his ass, and returned (Gen 44:13) KJV 30 I will make thee ruler ____ many things (Matt 25:23) KJV 31 close to the ___ just above the waistband (Ex 39:20) 32 appearing of the great God ___ our Saviour Jesus (Titus 2:13) 34 ___ the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7) 37 “No ___ sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment (Matt 9:16) 38 He then fastened a ___ to every pair of tails (Judg 15:4-5) 39 if the ____ has faded and has not spread in the skin (Lev 13:6) 40 cold and ____, and summer and winter (Gen 8:22) 42 The former ___ have I made, O Theophilus (Acts 1:1) KJV 43 spoken by the Lord, and ____ confirmed unto us (Heb 2:3) 45 into your ___ and kneading troughs. (Ex 8:3) 46 a man of ___, and familiar with suffering (Isa 53:3)

Page 21 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • April 2012

47 sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, ___ (Gen 46:16) 49 I have ____ thee in right paths (Prov 4:11) KJV 50 or birds are taken in a ___ (Eccl 9:12) 51 wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the ____ (John 13:5) 52 divided and given to the ___ and Persians (Dan 5:28) 54 the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret ___ (Ex 8:18) 55 all things, yea, the ____ things of God (1 Cor 2:10) 57 Their calls will ___ through the windows (Zeph 2:14) 58 ___ ___ or a sheep and its young (1,3) (Lev 22:28) 59 beast of burden (Psm.32:9) 62 foul weather to day: for the ____ is red and lowring. (Matt 16:3) KJV 64 By faith they passed through the ____ sea (Heb 11:29) 66 God, deity

Answers in the next issue!

Love Is Stronger Than Death:

I’m Sorry, But… “W

Finding truth in The Hunger Games I

n a fictional contest called The Hunger Games—where people either stab you in the back or stab you in the heart—most participants check their friendships at the door. But despite MANNA GROOVE her enemies’ willingness by Trevor Main to kill and be shaped by a desensitized society, a young female contestant named Katniss grieves for her tragic ally in the most brutal competition known to man in this futuristic sci-fi film. Though directionless and alone in the wild, Katniss refuses to let her circumstances harden her and instead mourns over the body of a fallen comrade. Her ability to feel deeply for an “enemy” stirs many of the watching audience, and they begin to rebel against the disgusting game. In a futuristic world the skilled hunter Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) opts to take her sister’s place in the annual Hunger Games, an event in which 24 teenagers enter a wilderness arena where they must track and kill each other. The last one alive is the winner. Katniss is joined by fellow District 12 contestant Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), and the two must fight their opponents, and each other, to survive the most violent, twisted, and loved show in society. The Hunger Games, though excellent in its story and characters, can be a dangerous film if not examined carefully. People tend to latch onto elaborate scenes, cool stunts, and jokes from movies they like. They’ll watch the latest Saw movie saying, “Did you see that guy cut through his own arm?” Or recite off-color jokes from the latest teen comedy. Most viewers neither care nor know how to edify their lives from the evil acts of characters in film. Viewers can perceive The Hunger Games in one of two ways. I encourage you first to identify the lens through which you interpret movies before deciding to see it. On one hand, even though there is nothing explicitly Christian about this film, believers can glean much from it and use it to teach how, despite our seeming insignificance, we can be movers and shakers in a corrupt culture. Various solutions present themselves throughout the film. First, flee idolatry. At the beginning of The Hunger Games when all the players

first enter the field, many are tempted to go after the abundant supply of nearby weapons, and they end up destroying each other right off the bat. But Katniss flees from this temptation instead of embracing it, which spares her from a chaotic war zone.

grace and grit by Sharifa Stevens

Second, resist greed. Some of the malicious contestants form an alliance and work to gather all of the food for themselves and then booby-trap their hoard. Instead of trying to seize it for herself, Katniss destroys the supply by detonating the surrounding traps. Third, accept pain and fight through it, as Katniss did while grieving for the fallen fighter.

Katniss and Peeta refuse to turn themselves into the killers society wants them to become. They are willing to kill themselves before they kill each other. Another view is simply to dismiss this film because it takes the kill-or-be-killed theme and applies it to children. Many movie lovers appreciate Gladiator but would disapprove of The Hunger Games because of the ages of people involved. The movie has a strong sense of hopelessness running through it from beginning to end. Twenty-three of the 24 children will die, and the one who is left is simply a reminder to the districts that they are slaves to The Colony, the prosperous inner-city capital, and that it can do whatever it wants. The film is somewhat redeemable at the end when Katniss and Peeta refuse to turn themselves into the killers society wants them to become. They are willing to kill themselves before they kill each other. The Colony wants only one person to survive, so whether they both die or survive would show the world that the districts don’t have to be slaves to The Colony. In a world where there is no hope, this tiny amount of hope is huge.

In a real world where students bring guns to school instead of slingshots and where they throw death threats instead of paper wads, some might believe The Hunger Games is likely to add to the desensitization of young adults. In short, The Hunger Games packages its vile survival sport for a child audience. Even though it is PG-13, the movie portrays violence fairly graphically with blood splatters, the grisly deaths of children, and nasty wounds. I’d encourage parents to discuss with their children how to hold onto Christlike morality without giving in to our culture’s weakening values. Despite being based on a young adult book series, The Hunger Games does well in depicting a sick society’s profane delight in death. It could have easily taken a child-friendly route but instead decided to portray humanity at its darkest. If you’re willing to endure the disturbing content, you will find a powerful theme of how love conquers corruption. The writing of the characters, and the way the actors portray them, are also surprising. Much like the gladiators of Roman times, the public drowns the 24 contestants with praise and applause, and they experience the highest luxury for their days of training before being thrown into the arena. Some characters buy into the mind game, and during their television interviews one would think Jay Leno was chatting up a celebrity. Out of a drive to survive no matter what the cost, some become the murderers they’re expected to be. Others manage to retain their identities despite being groomed and worshiped. The film’s use of color is amazing. The world we’re introduced to at first is washed in gray tones and dull colors, which signals to the audience that there must continued on next page

April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 22

e have learned the very painful lesson that all of creation is in God’s hands and He will end time in His time, not ours! We humbly recognize that God may not tell His people the date when Christ will return, any more than He tells anyone the date they will die physically.”

Well, praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow! Words I never thought to read jolted me at the beginning of March. What a heaping slice of humble pie, written by Harold Camping, president of Family Radio Stations, Incorporated (a network of Christian stations that went all culty), and architect of the May 21, 2011, Doomsday movement. Harold Camping has been contriving dates of the Lord’s return since 1978, but the May 2011 prediction swept masses of people into particularly potent apocalyptic fervor, brainwashing them to quit their jobs, give all their money to Family Radio advertising, abandon dreams of having children, split with their loved ones, and take to the streets to share their version of the “gospel”: the “wonderful news” of the destruction of the world with fervent heat. Just days after the May 21 prophecy failed, Camping was unrepentant; no offers of refunds, no empathy for those who abandoned all to follow his false gospel. Instead, he proffered a possible October 21 rapture.

hidden in God’s divine plan.” This looked good, real good. I imagined the joy in heaven that broke out over his repentance. I recalled the Scriptures that speak of boundless forgiveness and prodigal sons welcomed home. This was a huge step in the right direction. I admire that a 90-year-old man can still say sorry, and I hope that he meets his Maker with a clean conscience. Camping doesn’t make a personal mea culpa, and speaks in the plural rather than take the individual blame for leading the doomsday charge, which is disappointing. But he is firm and clear on being wrong. Right? Well...Camping’s humble pie is cold, and it’s got chunks missing. For example, he is silent about his lingering heresy concerning the Church. Camping fails to mention that his exquisitely blasphemous doomsday timeline also proved that the age of the church was over, and that anyone who went to church was under the control of satan. Droves of Camping followers, now cut off from any orthodoxy or accountability from the believing community, continue to be that much more vulnerable to being led astray. (My parents are to this day counted among the Camping faithful.) Camping has sinned against God by calling the Church—the Bride of Christ—apostate and devoid of the Holy Spirit. Where’s the repentance for that?

This looked good, real good. This was a huge step in the right direction. I admire that a 90-year-old man can still say sorry, and I hope that he meets his Maker with a clean conscience.

Camping’s latest letter, however, strongly counteracts his decadeslong campaign to disprove the simplest interpretation of Matthew 24:36 by rendering prediction after prediction:

“We realize that many people are hoping they will know the date of Christ’s return. In fact, for a time Family Radio fell into that kind of thinking. But we now realize that those people who were calling our attention to the Bible’s statement that ‘of that day and hour knoweth no man’ (Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32) were right in their understanding of those verses and Family Radio was wrong. Whether God will ever give us any indication of the date of His return is

Camping has bastardized the gospel by claiming that Jesus Christ died before the creation of the world (and yes, that would mean that He died before sin entered the world, and that someone in the Godhead must have killed him…chew on that for a while), and that His earthly crucifixion was a mere demonstration. The “gospel” that Family Radio happily takes donations to promote is something like, “We hope God will save you, but you can’t exercise faith in Him, so really, just live in fear. And the world’s ending.” This false gospel, devoid of grace and truth, is an equally egregious offense as the slandering the Church. And who’s not irked by apologies that start out with, “I’m sorry, but...”? Camping said in his apology letter, “Yes, we humbly acknowledge we were wrong about the timing; yet though we were wrong, God is still using the

Page 23 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • April 2012

May 21 warning in a very mighty way.” Uh-uh. It’s more accurate to say that the May 21 campaign smeared the name of Christianity in a singularly effective way, mixing heresy with holiness, and staining Christianity with cultish predictions, producing a muddled image for many an untrained eye. I hate to sound like the older brother in the Prodigal Son story of Luke 15, resentful and unforgiving. But do I accept Harold Camping’s apology? No. No I don’t. It’s too little, too late. It’s a stale slice of pie, and I’ll pass. • Sharifa Stevens is a wife and mother, singer, and writer. She earned a B.A. from Columbia University and a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. She lives in Dallas.

The Hunger Games continued from page 22 be a specific reason for the woman in purple who announces the names of contestants. After Katniss and Peeta leave District 12, the message is clear: The whole audience wears bright colors, making light of a hideously grim spectacle. They are numb to others’ suffering. Everyone is dressed as if going to an elaborate party, but the event is a gladiator-like fight to the death • Trevor Main has a B.A. in fiction writing from Columbia College, Chicago, and is working on his master’s degree in communication at Dallas Theological Seminary. His ministry experience with Youth With a Mission has taken him across Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Freefall: Take a Risk That Scares You Half to Death

Beans, Beans, They Make You Smart I

never met a bean I didn’t like. I am a bean lover, a “mangiafagioli,” or bean-eater, the Italian nickname for people from Tuscany. Whether Boston-baked, refried, Soul Food brothy, stewed, or my by Joanne Cutting-Gray favorite—cooked and mixed with rice—the humble bean is a complete and perfect food. Proteinrich, nutritious, inexpensive, and stomach-satisfying, beans speak a universal message of home and where they grow. In German Milwaukee where I was raised, beans meant thick, hearty white bean soup made with navy or great northern beans, onion, bay leaf, and ham. In Miami we love to eat delicious Cuban black beans with rice or spicy black bean soup. In Dallas, pinto beans, refried or brothy, accompany just about every Mexican or TexMex dish. Another version of the abundant pinto is gallo pinto, a Guatemalan dish with lots of sautéed onions, rice, and salsa or pico de gallo. Priscilla, my Tulsa friend from the Dominican Republic, has served me her delicious moro di habichuelas, black beans and rice made with green pepper, capers, celery, garlic, herbs, and tomato paste.

but a garlicky appetizer of beans, olive oil, sage, and fresh tomatoes spread and heated on day-old Tuscan bread. I could go on and on. There’s Mediterranean hummus made with chickpeas, lentil soup that my French cooking teacher thought worthy of a first course in her famous restaurant, and black-eyed peas, which, as every Southerner knows, are to be eaten on New Year’s Day and any other day of the year. Unless you live in New Orleans, where it’s customary to make red beans and rice on Monday, washing day. My husband’s version serves it with Polish sausage. Vegetarians have long sworn by the joy of beans, including substituting them for beef in veggie burgers. A blackeyed pea patty with red pepper dressing and grilled garlic shrimp goes a long way toward turning the humble bean into a feast. There are many health benefits to beans, which are full of fiber that can inhibit cancer and control blood sugar levels. Beans and lentils were among the foods sent to King David’s army to restore its strength. In Genesis God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant-yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” Perhaps my favorite “seed in its fruit” is a seasonal bean grown here in Savannah: low-country butter beans. Butter beans are fresh, not dried, lima beans, and if you can’t get them from a farmer’s market, they are available frozen.

Protein-rich, nutritious, inexpensive, and stomach-satisfying, beans speak a universal message of home and where they grow.

In Barcelona we ate fabada asturiana, a rich bean stew made with fabadas, large dried white beans. We liked the dish so much we purchased a bag of beans and brought them home only to have them hatch bugs several months later! Fava beans are common broad beans eaten everywhere in Italy. But our favorite Italian bean is the cannellini, or white kidney bean. In Tuscany we found them already cooked and refrigerated in the fresh food section of the local grocer and made not just Tuscan bean stew,

“G

Butter Beans with Corn and Okra over Rice 6 slices smoked bacon, diced 1 pound fresh lima beans 2 T butter 1 small onion chopped 1 green pepper chopped 2 cloves garlic minced 1 pound okra sliced (or 1 c frozen) 3 ears silver queen corn off the cob (or 1 1/2 c. white corn frozen) 1 t salt 1 t pepper ½ t cayenne pepper, plus Tabasco sauce as desired 1 Tablespoon butter

• • • Cover beans with chicken or ham stock. Boil and simmer 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté bacon till brown. Add butter, onion, green pepper, garlic, corn, and okra and sauté 2–3 minutes. Add to beans and simmer 15–20 minutes or until beans are tender but not soft. Correct seasonings and serve over rice. Quick cooking hint: When using dried beans, cover with water, boil one minute, and soak one hour. This way you don’t have to soak the beans overnight. To eliminate gas, drain the soaked beans, cover with clean water, and boil. I almost never met a bean-lover unwilling to share his

enthusiasm about beans. Visit a foreign country and ask the locals what foods they like to eat. I guarantee the question will break down cultural barriers, especially where beans are a diet staple. So if you’re reading this, I hope you’ll send me a recipe for your favorite bean dish. I can’t wait to try it. • Joanne Cutting-Gray, Ph.D. is an author, scholar, and lifelong student of cooking. She lives with her husband in Savannah, Georgia.

April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 24

that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in ive me life according the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 to Your Word.” Psalm 119:25 In that moment, the Lord spoke deep into my heart as if sitting right next to me. His words had no judgment. But I stared at the coffin. the truth warned me to embrace all that was said and to The pastor’s voice could live life with full conviction. be heard, but my mind seemed to interpret Guest Column nothing. Though my family “Melissa, you know not the days ordained for you. I alone by Melissa Shaver considered the last five years have your life in hand. I created you with a specific purpose, of my dad’s life as borrowed and I’ve given you everything you need to live this life in abundance. But there will come a day that you will see me time, his death came unexpectedly. I had imagined that a face to face. And, on that day, I will welcome you with open surgery or perhaps months of illness would take his life. Instead, he died on a day when he felt his best. He and my arms. Melissa, my love for you will never change. But, on mom were headed to their car from a routine hospital visit. that day, you will be the one disappointed. For on that day, A beautiful day. My dad’s comments on the day’s sunshine you will see all that I had for you. All that you missed out on because of fear. Because you didn’t trust me. Because you were his last words. He fell to the ground. wouldn’t take a risk.” Life is never what you expect. I’ve met no one who can testify that the life they mapped out went according to plan. Instead, life is made up of high mountaintop experiences and low, dark valleys with curves throwing you in and out of pitfalls and unexpected ditches.

over man’s? If I fail to be a great steward of the resources, talents, and opportunities He has given me, I could displease God. Does this sound harsh? It’s Biblical.

As I sat in the church taking inventory of life with my dad, I thought more of his assets than faults. He was the best dad he knew how to be, and the Lord had graced me years ago to forgive all the flaws. I was one of the privileged. I grew up in a home with both parents living under the same roof and had been gifted with a dad who loved me. Yes, we lived a messy life within our family dynamics of dysfunction, but two parents trump many alternative hardships.

“God has exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Philippians 2:9–11

Staring at the coffin, my imagination took off as I questioned my life. Had I done all I desired? Would I live to see my children married? Grandchildren? My dad’s death came at a time of personal struggle. All my life I’d lived partially to please him. Though he’d have been supportive of anything I did, I wanted him to see me successful and be proud of my accomplishments. But the Lord had been changing my heart for several years, creating in me a desire to please Him alone and not let man sway me. Under this time of God-change, I hadn’t realized how much bondage I lived in because of the temptations to receive worldly applause. Money, cars, house, job title, success…it all wrapped tightly around my identity and had a death grip on me that almost squeezed out the desires of my heart to love and serve my Lord in full surrender.

I knew exactly what He was speaking to me the day of Dad’s funeral. It was time to lose my security blanket. That’s the only way you’ll see Him so clearly and cling to Him so tightly.

As if I’d been held under water too long in desperate need of air, my heart gasped for the freedom that only comes from full obedience. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Revelation 20:12, we are told that every believer will participate in a day of judgment. My actions today will have eternal consequences. I believe this is what the Lord lovingly spoke to me at my dad’s funeral. It’s not a matter of whether I’ll live eternally with Him. That was decided when Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I accepted Him as Lord and Savior. It has to do with the fact of how I lived my life.

God will judge what I did with my salvation and how I Could the death of my dad be the wake-up call I needed to invested the gifts and resources that He gave me. I have a choice with what activities I do within my days—do see the abundant life? they lead to greater earthly rewards or will they store up a heavenly reward? Did I ever desire God’s applause “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so Page 25 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • April 2012

Though I have been justified by faith—not by works—and I won’t face condemnation, God will judge my work and reward me accordingly. (Matthew 6:20; Luke 19:17, 20; 1 Corinthians 3:12–15; 1 Timothy 6:17–19; Revelation 22:12) God has been gracious to me throughout these years. He is a God who reveals truth, then allows me to struggle through what that means for my life. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, with a surrendered heart, we can learn to live the abundant life that He desires for each of His children. I knew exactly what He was speaking to me the day of Dad’s funeral. It was time to lose my security blanket and take the risk He’d spoken to me years earlier. God wants us to freefall. He wants you to take a risk that scares you half to death. Why? Because that’s the only place you’ll see Him so clearly and cling to Him so tightly. That’s the place you’ll know the greatness of His power and mercy.

Have you taken inventory of your life lately? Have you imagined the day when you’ll see Jesus Christ face to face? My greatest desire is to hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” I will live my days committed to knowing, loving, and serving Him in a manner worthy of His call. • Melissa Shaver is founder and director of Walking in Grace Ministries, a nondenominational, Bible-teaching, discipleshipfocused ministry. Melissa, a Bible teacher, conference speaker, and graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, is married and has three children. Visit her website at www.walkingrace.org or e-mail her at melissa.shaver@walkingrace.org.

A Choice Worth Making M

GODLY MAN by Michael Tummillo

y wife and I saw the movie The Blind Side last night—finally. We loved it. In case you haven’t seen it, I can sum it up by saying it’s a story of redemption in which a wealthy family chooses to love a young black man from the poor side of town and winds up making him one of their own.

I was touched by the film. It hit close to home. More than two decades ago, in what seems another lifetime, the mother of my children had an affair and wound up pregnant (just so you know, I was not at liberty to discuss this story until six years ago when, to her credit, she released me to do so in hopes it might help somebody else). As one who did not believe in abortion, I chose to raise this “love child” as my own. Desperately needing to talk to someone, I contacted a man by phone—a Catholic priest I’d never met and whose name I don’t remember. He listened intently as I described the situation to him. I can’t recall everything he said, but God gave him the perfect words to say: “You know, Joseph raised a baby that wasn’t his.”

I chose to love her every bit as much as I loved her three siblings. him and he’s a real joy. I chose to make her my own.

What about you? Who has hurt you? Who has been driving you nuts for years that you may have disowned, alienated, The day finally came when her mother called me, crying, brushed off or written off as hopeless? When my oldest son announcing to her daughter—16 years later— that I was not was behind bars, I had to choose to love him, even when my her birth father. It was an awesome moment of redemption flesh was repulsed by the way he “disgraced our family name.” as I gathered the four children around me and said to them, “It really doesn’t matter what human man brings us into the Thank God Jesus didn’t blow me off while He was being world. What really matters is that we all come from the same crucified. Father—God—and that we must get to know Him. That’s what’s most important to me.” Children, spouses, ex-spouses, employers, people who are “different” from us...all this Christian dissension has got to stop! Where’s the love, people?

God gave him the perfect words to say: “You know, Joseph raised a baby that wasn’t his.”

Shortly thereafter, reconciliation came between her and her birth father. I’ve met him—and his wife—the day I officiated my daughter’s wedding, at her graduation, at her kids’ birthday parties (my grandchildren). I’ve prayed for both the father and his wife and have forgiven him.

Same God. Same type of situation. That’s all I needed to hear. In that instant, I felt the Lord’s arms wrap around me like a perfect daddy assuring his son, “We’ll get through this, child...I’ll be right there with you.” My daughter knows she is loved. She is a wonderful person, and I cannot imagine life without her. Her husband has a I chose to love that little baby. son from a previous marriage. He’s 6, and I have chosen to love him and be his “Grandpa Mike.” I’m getting to know

God been so good to us, especially in America. He has even allowed us the freedom to choose who we will love and who we will hate. Like the lady in The Blind Side (played by Sandra Bullock), we are given a daily opportunity to show someone else the love of Christ that is resident within us. By the way, the “blind side” is a football reference to the responsibility of an offensive lineman to defend his quarterback’s blind side from their opponents whenever he attempts a pass. Similarly, each of us must make that same choice to defend the blind side of others whom our mutual enemy, the devil, is bent on destroying. What are we doing with that opportunity? Are we turning a blind eye or protecting their blind side? • Michael Tummillo is an ordained minister, a Certified Workplace Chaplain, and a meber of NIBIC (National Institute of Business and Industry Chaplains). He lives in Stephenville with his wife.

Demons for Dummies, Part 1 P

the devil, and having the legion,” was found “sitting and false prophets and visions is an open door to demonic clothed, and in his right mind” thereafter (Mark 5:15). The contamination. second is in Mark 9:17–27, where Jesus’ disciples could not cast out a deaf and dumb spirit. After he cast out the • Consulting the dead or necromancy. Also, astrology demons, His disciples asked Him, “Why could not we cast and horoscopes are practices of the heathen that lure the him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by innocent into satanic strongholds. nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” • Demonic hair attachment. Ladies can be contaminated “And when he thus had This brings us to a crucial understanding concerning by the marine spirit through this source. Most ladies spoken, he cried with a loud Third Watch voice, Lazarus, come forth. demons: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. You must be who have hair attachments that I pray for during by Taiwo Ayeni And he that was dead came equipped in order to deal with demonic entities. deliverance go through terrible demonic manifestations. Sometimes innocent people are contaminated through forth, bound hand and foot Before I dive into how to cast out demons and the tools evil hands on righteous heads. One case in point is a with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a required to deal with them effectively, let’s take a look at hair stylist who pulled crowds because of the speed at napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” how people get contaminated in the first place. In the case which she did hair styling but discouraged the use of a John 11:43–44 of a Christian, we are talking about demonic oppression, mirror while she was plaiting hair. One believer insisted because evil spirits cannot take over the human spirit where on looking in a mirror, and what she saw scared the I want to invite you to join me as we go through the living daylights out of her—several invisible hands joined foundational teachings on demonic afflictions and demons, Christ or the Holy Spirit indwells. But for an unbeliever, as we read in the case of the mad man of Gadara, it is utter the stylist’s two hands to do her hair! and how to cast them out. This is to help you come to an possession. The spirit of an unbeliever is vulnerable to easy understanding of the wiles of the devil, because he is on a • Voyeurism. Watching others have sex or visiting rampage and is taking advantage of ignorant believers who possession and lacks resistance to evil forces. pornographic websites. think Christians cannot be in bondage. astor Taiwo Ayeni is an authority on deliverance ministry. This month, he begins a three-part series on the basics of casting out demons.

The Scripture above is a fitting picture of how a person can receive resurrection life—in other words, be born again— yet still remain bound. Lazarus rose from the dead, yet came out of the grave bound in the face, hands, and feet. The symbolic picture is that he was bound in his vision, ministry, and mobility. He was alive and still bound. The command of the Lord in this instance is, “Loose him and let him go.” There are many Christians in this situation, and this series of three columns is for them. They need to be loosed and let go. When a person is bound or oppressed, he does things that are beyond human reasoning and plays the fool beyond his or her control. Notice, I did not say possessed. This is because a Christian cannot be possessed—he or she can only be demonized or oppressed. For a Christian to be possessed, he or she ceases to be a Christian, because the demonic forces have completely taken over his or her spirit being. This has to occur willingly. Only an unbeliever whose spirit is defenseless and open to occupation can be possessed. Demonic oppression kicks in gradually, and grows in hooves and horns when nothing is done to confront it. The trap is that the devil starts with a toe-hold, moves to a foot-hold, steps up to a body-hold, and culminates in a stronghold.

Demonic oppression kicks in gradually, and grows in hooves and horns when nothing is done to confront it. One major source of demonic oppression is by evil transference through: • Sex. Any sexual relationship with a person outside of marriage spiritually involves demonic contamination. • Wrong association. The domineering personality inadvertently transfers spirits on those they dominate through the weapons of fear, anxiety, and coercion. • Deliverance. Careless deliverance ministry to a demonized person can be costly. For example, a minister walked away from his marriage of many years, leaving his wife and four children in the cold and running away with a young woman after getting contaminated during a deliverance session. He was seduced and overwhelmed by her alluring immoral suggestions.

We see the Lord Jesus confronting satanic strongholds on several occasions in the Bible. I will examine two instances. The first is when He cast out demons from the strong man • Soul ties. Bonding with either father or mother to the point of hindering one’s marriage because of unrealistic of Gadara, who was possessed with a legion of demons. comparisons. The Lord commanded the demons to leave, and having given them permission to possess a great herd of swine that • Divination. Seeking to know the future through ended up drowning in the sea, the man “...possessed with April 2012 • Volume 6 • Issue 4 • Page 26

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• Partaking in demonic communion. Eating food offered as sacrifice in respect of the dead. Mostly common among Africans, who throw big ritual parties for long-dead loved ones. • Involvement with false religions such as Rosicrucian Order, AMORC; Christian Science; Eckankar; Grail Message; Jehovah’s Witnesses; white garment churches; etc. • Consulting palm readers to know times and seasons. • Shaving one’s hair in honor of the dead, a traditional African practice; sleeping on graveyards; or offering blood sacrifices at burial sites. These are open invitations to demonic contamination. • Incisions and tattoos. These are unknowingly blood covenants with the devil. • Engaging in homosexuality, lesbianism, sodomy, obsessive masturbation, bestiality, and prostitution. • Next month, Pastor Ayeni describes the symptoms of demonic oppression and the requirements for safely engaging in deliverance ministry. Taiwo Ayeni is president of Rehoboth Bible Ministries, Inc., in Grand Prairie, where he lives with his wife Abidemi and their son and daughter. You may contact him at tayeni@rehobothministries.org.

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