Destiny Unfolding: March 2006

Friday, March 31, 2006

For Heavens Sake

Just to let you know...

Ok...I feel it tugging at my spirit. Probably just in time. I feel God calling me to a season of listening. Anyone who knows me know I love to talk and to offer advise. So that "listening season" is going to be tuff but I am excited about it. With that said, I will probably be using my blog as a means of expression because I want to pick and choose my statements more wisely. So look for more...

12:45 AM | Permalink |

You Think You Know…But You Have No Idea

You Think You Know…But You Have No Idea

I have come to the conclusion that pastoral care is so very important to effective ministry. More importantly, pastoral care is not only beneficial to the one receiving the care but also to the Pastor providing it. Pastoral care is: the broad, inclusive ministry of mutual growth and healing within a congregation.

“Pastoral counseling, for those who are not familiar, is the utilization of a variety of healing (therapeutic) methods to help people handle their personal problems, life destiny, and their relationship with God. The major functions of pastoral care and counseling are healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling. These are challenging and exciting functions of ministry: to be part of a process aimed at restoring persons to wholeness, helping a troubled person to endure and transcend a circumstance through faith that seems most difficult, assisting perplexed persons to assess their life situations and then make confident choices, and to be a part of a process of re-establishing broken relationships with others and God” (taken from the Lexington Theological Seminary website).

I say this because there are pastors/preachers who sit and prepare their Sunday sermon who have no idea as to the intricate challenges facing their congregations. Let me put it this way: You may know that Mr. Johnson is going through a divorce; or you may know that Mrs. Smith is waiting on the results from her biopsy; or that Ashley has become the newest teen pregnancy within your church; or that 9 months ago Deacon Andrews experienced the death of one of his children. The frightening part is that as pastor/preacher we can know these things but in truth have absolutely no idea as to the magnitude of struggle engaging our very own congregations.

I say that we have no ideas because until on has had several opportunities to dialogue with people in “crisis” we cannot begin to grasp the depths of their reality; of their pain; of their fear; of their notion of failure; or of their plan for success change.

I recently have been blessed by the presence of a young lady I am now offering pastoral care to. And I must say that this young lady has not only been through “hell and high water” but may have drowned several times and been resuscitated. And yet, by the grace of God, she has survived. As I listen to her experiences, I am both amazed and yet convicted. Amazed that she has survived such tragedy but I must say that I find myself convicted because I am fairly certain that I would not have been able to do the same. She inspires me to look deep within and consider reality beyond my own.

Several times this week in many of my classes’ pastoral care has been a central focus. Time and time again I hear stories of church members who go into the hospital, don’t see their pastors before, during or after surgery. What does this say about the church, the Christian Church—that is. The reality is that people lay in their hospital beds angry; initially with their pastor/church and eventually with God.

“God, why didn’t anyone come and see about me.”

Let me be clear, in that, I know that as mature Christians we aught to rely on God and not on others, but the reality is that we were created for relationship; first with God and then with others.

There is distinct difference between worship at home by yourself and corporate worship. There is a distinct difference between praying at home by yourself and corporate prayer. There is a distinct difference between study the bible on your own and engaging in bible study corporately. The reality is we need the members of the body to see about the body.

I say this particularly for pastors/preachers because I believe that our offering of pastoral care we could also benefit. When you know the reality of your congregation your sermons have to come alive; become real and relevant. I say this because now you are intimately aware of the needs of the audience. I think that the more intimately aware you are of the congregations needs the more easily you can discern the Holy Spirit.

As pastors/preachers we stand before the faces of our congregants and we think we know—but in truth—we have no idea. For example, women and children are being abused or men are addicted to drugs, alcohol, and sex. And these descriptions here simply tap at the surface. What and how is the abused being engaged? Why has he or she allowed it to go on so long? How can one get help? Does one want help? How did you get addicted in the first place? And so on….and so on…and so on. We need to hear the reality of our sheep.

I say this because when most churches reach a certain size one of two things happen? Either, the majority of pastors stop offering pastoral care because the rest of the ministerial staff can do so. Or, the pastor offers pastoral care sessions for a very small and limited part of the week…making continued sessions not a realistic option.

However, I think that if pastors could commit to some form of pastoral care, even if it’s just two cases, with persons on a regular basis (bi-monthly at least) I think it would be beneficial to all involved. Because the reality is, how can we preach prosperity if we don’t know form the mouths of our own congregations that children have gone hungry for days on end and the second eviction notice has been fixed to the door?

Well I’m just getting this entire thing out of my heart and onto the computer. I am not thinking it all the way through, but I am attempting to put it out there for some dialogue. Let me know what you think…or perhaps you have no idea.

12:43 AM | Permalink |

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

LOVE .... This is cool

11:57 AM | Permalink |

Field Education Updates

Brief Updates…

This summer I will be doing my Field Education at Capital Health Systems hospital in Trenton. I will be serving there with the Chaplin. If you have been reading my Blog I reflected on this (1.26.06).

Additionally, next academic year I will be serving as the minister to youth at St. James AME Church in Newark. (www.stjamesame.org). I am excited about this challenge as well. St. James is a progressive AME church that really doing a great example of holistic ministry.

I am very excited.

11:56 AM | Permalink |

Monday, March 13, 2006

In the midst of mid-terms....SO

Greetings all. I am in the midst of midterm--so my time to write is non existent. So let me engage you further in the blog world. This weeks post will come from another seminarians blog. I don't know this girl from "Adam's house cat," but I found this reflection good. Its about modern day lynching and comments made by James Cone on the subject. Awesome read and its short. Here yah are. I'll be back next weak. Holla!

http://kate48.blogspot.com/2005/11/lynching-revisited.html

12:41 AM | Permalink |

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Pictures....Yeah!

Flash Slideshow

1:40 PM | Permalink |

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

The Trinity: Do we really recognize ALL of God?

The Trinity: Do we really recognize ALL of God?

Last week there was an article published in the Dallas Morning

Newspaper referencing a new book about TD Jakes. The book, T.D. Jakes America’s New Preacher, is written by Dr. Shayne Lee, professor of Sociology at Tulane University. The article states (Because I haven’t read the book) that the book focuses on the rise to fame of TD Jakes from an objective/academy perspective as opposed to the providential/spiritual. The book does sound quite interesting even though it costs $27.95 and has not been well publicized. (A copy of the article is located below this post)

But the reason I mention this is because of the observation that Dr. Lee has made about Trinitarian theology (theology of the trinity) within most Mega Churches. Dr. Lee notes that many of the mega churches, including the Potter’s House, place their emphasis/theology solely on Jesus and not on the triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Hold that thought…

In my systematic theology class (WHICH I AM LOVIN) we happened to start Trinitarian theology this week. Within our main text for the class, Faith Seeketh Understanding, the book talks about how as Christians our faith is “in” the triune God. That as Christians we believe in one (1) God who is three (3) beings/”persons”. Our Faith is in Father, Son AND Holy Spirit.

For me, Thus, our faith is IN God—the creator, God the redeemer—Jesus and in God the Holy Spirit—the spirit which first lived in Christ and now dwells in us as Christians.

Yet, I think Lee just might be right. One could easily say that the modern day faith is in Jesus alone.

I was even thinking about, how for so many churches the confession of faith has its central emphasis on Jesus and gives minor attention the other two begins of the triune God (God Himself and the Holy Spirit). In so many of the black churches I have been in I hear something along the lines of the following.
Repeat after me, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the God. I believe that he died for my sins and was raised on the third day. Come and live in my heart. I am saved.”

My concern is that confessions, along these lines, give no clear definition to our belief in the triune God. Jesus is explicitly mentioned while God and the Holy Spirit take a back seat. What if those who have come to engage in a new relationship with God (the triune) didn’t really believe in God in the first place? Isn’t the confession of God first, just as important as our confession of Jesus.
Let me be clear that confession of Jesus is necessary, but it is Jesus who we believe now sits at the right hand of God. Thus Christ’s coming was to save us but it was also to point us toward God the father. Christ is a part of the trinity, lets be clear on that, but (for me!) Christ subordinate to God. Christ came and submitted His will to the will of God. This is evident when Jesus prays TO God asking for the cup to be taken away.

In a like manner, when we don’t explicitly recognize the role and life of the Holy Spirit we lead people to believe that there is this new “random” voice which lives inside. I think that this is often times why people do things and say, “God said.” Yet they find no confirmation in God’s Word, primarily because they haven’t looked. For so many, they do not even know what the Holy Spirit is.

Therefore, it is my recommendation that when people come forward to give their lives to God through the revelation of Christ that we clearly make them aware of all that comes with this confession. Hence, I would render the following confession of faith…

“I believe in God, who created the heavens, the earth and me. I believe that God loved me enough to send his son Jesus who came to die for my sins, was raised from the grave, and not sits at the right hand of God. And with the resurrection of Christ came the power of the Holy Spirit, which now lives in my heart and will assist me in understanding God’s scriptures, the revelation of Christ, and my own personal calling. Thank you for giving me the all of you, (God) in creation, (Christ) in redemption, and in (Holy Spirit) sustenance. By this, I am beginning a new, fresh and intimate relationship with the God who will never leave me nor forsake me. Amen!”

If Jesus is to be the way, the truth and the light then we must accept all of his ways, all of this truths and the fullness of his light. Let us not limit God by Jesus alone. Jesus came not that we would seek only him, but that his life might attest to His father.

Amen!

1:29 AM | Permalink |

Article on Jakes as Promised!

(Article on Jakes as promised!)

Ready for his close-up? Professor's book, mostly but not entirely flattering, looks at T.D. Jakes' rise to fame

By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News

T.D. Jakes' famous pulpit refrain is "Get Ready!" But whether Bishop Jakes is ready for the first scholarly book about him is unclear.

Shayne Lee's largely favorable T.D Jakes: America's New Preacher (New York University Press, $27.95) charts Bishop Jakes' rise from obscure West Virginia ditch-digger and storefront preacher to internationally known Dallas-based clergyman, advising President Bush and making the cover of Time magazine.Dr. Lee, a sociology professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, also writes about Bishop Jakes' incessant fund-raising and mansion-dwelling, Bentley-driving lifestyle. He questions where Bishop Jakes stands on such traditional Christian beliefs as the Trinity. And he notes that Bishop Jakes, while remarkably effective at capturing a female audience, "at times makes awkward references to women's breasts."

A spokesman said Bishop Jakes, pastor of the Potter's House in southwest Dallas, won't be reading Dr. Lee's book.

"He's busy with [Hurricane] Katrina-related work, and with running his church," said Mark DeMoss, the Jakes spokesman. "He doesn't read a lot of what's written about him."

Others are reading Dr. Lee's book. It came out in October and quickly sold through its first edition of 2,000 copies, despite the high price and meager marketing that come with publication through a university press.
Dr. Lee, 34, sees himself as a pioneer – the first to do a full-length scholarly take on Bishop Jakes. He's sure he won't be the last.

"Other than Martin Luther King Jr., he's the most influential African-American preacher ever," said Dr. Lee. "A lot of ministers and scholars get mad when they hear me make that comment, but I boldly make it. ... As far as the breadth of his talent and the scope of what he's been able to do, I can't think of a close second."
Dr. Lee was an undergraduate at Oral Roberts University in 1993 when Bishop Jakes, then relatively unknown, preached on campus at the Azusa Conference – a showcase for Pentecostal ministers. Though Dr. Lee didn't go, he heard the buzz afterward.

"It was a Friday night when he spoke," Dr. Lee said. "A couple of friends came back and said, 'This guy Bishop Jakes was great. He really tore it up.' "

Dr. Lee soon made it a point to hear Bishop Jakes. And while getting a master's degree in biblical studies from Regent University, a master's in religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University, Dr. Lee followed Bishop Jakes' rise.

In 2001, when Bishop Jakes made the cover of Time with a headline that asked whether he might be the new Billy Graham, Dr. Lee decided he had to write a book.

"For a black Pentecostal preacher to be on the cover of Time, compared to America's greatest religious icon – I had to ask myself what took place in American Protestantism for this to be posed as a reasonable question," he said.
Dr. Lee considered himself unusually well qualified for that task. Beyond having the academic grounding, he grew up in New York City, in a Pentecostal home. He understood that faith's commitment to emotional, Holy Spirit-filled worship, including speaking in tongues.

Moreover, he had a keen interest in high-profile preachers, studying them the way a hardcore boxing fan (Dr. Lee is one of those, too) would heavyweight contenders.

Dr. Lee said he tried "many, many times" to get an interview with Bishop Jakes, and a staff member led him to believe one was in the works. But it never happened. (Bishop Jakes, through his spokesman, said he was unsure whether he knew of the author's request.)

Unable to have a one-on-one encounter, Dr. Lee immersed himself in Bishop Jakes' TV performances and tapes, and read most of his books. He also read news clippings and heard Bishop Jakes preach at the Potter's House and at conferences. He interviewed ministers and others who know Bishop Jakes well.
The T.D. Jakes portrayed by Dr. Lee is remarkable from childhood forward.
"Jakes, from Day One, was both a businessman and a preacher," Dr. Lee said. "He was a little Bible boy, and he was a little boy selling vegetables from his mother's garden."

As a teen, Tommy Jakes spent considerable time nursing his terminally ill father – a fact Dr. Lee says is important in understanding Bishop Jakes' empathy. The book also traces Bishop Jakes' conversion to Pentecostal faith, his brief study of psychology in college, and his perseverance, with the steadfast help of wife Serita, through lean early years in Charleston, W.Va.

"This guy almost singlehandedly turned a dilapidated old movie theater into a church," Dr. Lee said. "He was working at the time, digging ditches until his hands would bleed, and in his spare time he was working on the church."

One chapter titled "Jakes Receives His Big Break" describes the events that led to his 1993 appearance at the Azusa Conference. Dr. Lee recounts Bishop Jakes' climb to prominence through regular appearances on religious TV. And he covers the decision to relocate to Dallas, where Bishop Jakes started the Potter's House in 1996.

Dr. Lee finds much to admire in Bishop Jakes' life and work.

"He understands what hurts people, and he's able to communicate the Gospel in a way that alleviates people's pain," he said.

But Dr. Lee said Bishop Jakes is open to criticism because of the wealth he's accumulated tending an empire that includes the Potter's House, nonprofit organizations and TDJ Enterprises, the umbrella company for his for-profit efforts in book publishing, and music, theater and film production.

Bishop Jakes is easily a millionaire from book sales alone, Dr. Lee believes.

"He's in the business of selling God, and he's built a fortune by turning spirituality into a commodity."

He also noted that Bishop Jakes has been less transparent with his finances than many TV evangelists. And, he said, Bishop Jakes has been artfully vague on whether he believes in the Trinity.

Most Pentecostals do, and the Potter's House doctrinal statement says God is "Triune in His manifestation."

But the statement omits the word "Trinity" and Dr. Lee points out that Oneness or Apostolic Pentecostals, the group Bishop Jakes was long affiliated with, baptize in the name of Jesus only and reject the idea of God as manifested in three distinct persons. (The complicated debate about Bishop Jakes and the Trinity is played out on various Web sites.)

Although he is highly popular among women, and comfortable with women in the pulpit and in key staff positions, Bishop Jakes' sermons and writings are in some ways antifeminist, Dr. Lee argues. The pastor, he said, calls on women to submit to their husbands. And Bishop Jakes' writings show a preoccupation with the female form, the sociologist said.

"Whether he is referring to strong thighs, firm breasts, satiny skin, sex appeal, or overall beauty in general, Jakes' unnecessary references to female physicality represent the patriarchal habit of objectifying the female body," Dr. Lee writes.
Dr. Lee's own preoccupation seems to be with the words "neo-Pentecostal" and "postmodern," which appear often in his text.

By neo-Pentecostal, he says he means "a new way of being Pentecostal – less emphasis on speaking in tongues, more emphasis on the liberating power of the Holy Spirit, and the embrace of psychology." And by calling Bishop Jakes postmodern, he defines him as "outside the box of traditional churches. He wants to blur denominational lines."

Although Bishop Jakes would not comment on the book, Mr. DeMoss, his spokesman, said: "Mr. Lee's opinions are just that, opinions. He accuses Bishop Jakes of profiting from 'selling God' and writing books about God. Well, God isn't for sale, and Mr. Lee is seeking to profit from a book he wrote about a preacher he has never met or spoken to."

Dr. Lee's next book will investigate the influence and appeal of Bishop Jakes and four other preachers – Rick Warren, of The Purpose-Driven Life fame; Joel Osteen, of Houston's massive Lakewood Church; Brian McLaren, an author and leading figure in the "emergent church" movement; and Paula White, a rising star on Christian TV.

"This book is basically going to explain to the world why these five preachers are drawing millions of followers," he said.

Hurricane Katrina shut down Tulane in the fall, even as it propelled Bishop Jakes to a frenzy of relief fundraising and organizing. For Dr. Lee, the terrible storm meant a "forced sabbatical," with plenty of time to write.

"I've got about three-quarters of the book done."

12:57 AM | Permalink |

Destiny Unfolding