Sunday, November 22, 2009

Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Dear Diary,

My name is Hagar and I'm the Egyptian slave discussed in Genesis 21:8-21. I was introduced when my master Sarah, Father Abraham's wife, decided to let me marry her husband so that I could do what she couldn't, get pregnant. Hold up! What she did was permitted by law. Well, Abraham successfully got me pregnant. Now you would think that everyone would be happy since Abraham, who was eight plus years old, finally produced an heir. From the time I got pregnant until Abraham kicked me and my son out fourteen years later, there was much tension between Sarah and me.
Because of the way Sarah treated me--literally like a dog--I had every right to be mad. She did everything she could to make my life a living hell, which included her husband kicking me and a teenage boy out the house with a few sandwiches and bottles of water that ran out before night fall. Nevertheless, God was with me and Ishmael and me every step of the way. God sent an angel to us the same day to care for us while we aimlessly wondered through the wilderness. In addition, God mad away for my son to grow up and be very successful. The fact that he still became successful despite the fact that he didn't have the presence of a daddy is an example of how God will care for the the oppressed, depressed, and dispossessed.
I guess I wrote this entry because I want to inform everyone that God will take of you and yours if you continue to trust in him. Because of all the good things that happened to me despite all the bad, I actually think the name of my diary should be changed from the diary of a mad black woman to the diary of a glad black wowan because I wouldn't have all that I have had I not gone through all that I went through. in short, all of the trouble opened the door for my triumph.

Sincerly,

Hagar, a glad black woman

I Can Do Bad All By Myself

A surface level analysis of April's (leading character in the movie) life will leave you thinking she had a pretty good life. I mean she had a job, a big house, nice clothes, a great singing voice, friends, and a man. However, a closer look will reveal she only had the appearance of success. A closer analysis reveals she hated her job, the big house was raggedy, she was mean to all her friends and family,and her man was actually someone else's man. As the movie continued to unravel I began to realize that one of the reason's her life was so bad is because she had a bad man in it.

I wonder how many of us are living below our potential because we've surrounded ourselves with "bad" people--people who, at the end of the day, only care about their well-being. Anyone that we allow into our life should bring joy, peace, and happiness. They should contribute to us becoming all that God has created us to be. However, as in April's case, we often allow people into our life who encourage us to be content with mediocrity. But how long will you settle? What will it take for you to finally wake up and realize how dangerous it is for you to allow certain to stay in your life? Unfortunately, April didn't realize the detriment of Randy's presence in her life until he tried rape Jennifer. Will it take you or someone you dear to you being raped of their hopes and dreams before you decide to issue eviction papers?

I encourage everyone today to do an assessment of their life and if you discover that someone adds more bad than good to your life, then you should let them go. At the end of the day, if you're going to do bad, you might as well do bad by yourself because then you have one less mouth to worry about:)

Peace!

Hosue of Payne

For everyone who has seen House of Payne, have you ever noticed that the last name of all the main characters is Payne: Clarence Payne, Curtis Payne, Ella Payne, Malik and Jazmine Payne. They each have different first names, but the same last name. I believe that is symbolic of the fact that each of them struggles with a unique type of Payne (pain). I also believe we all can identify with at least one character and their personal pain.

Clarence Payne deals with the pain of losing his wife to an addiction and the pain of being a single parent. Curtis Payne deals with the pain that comes from the stress of knowing he is the main bread winner for everyone who lives in his house. Ella Payne deals with the pain that all good mothers experience which is everyone's pain because she hurts whenever someone else hurts. Malik deals with the pain of not knowing if his absent parent will ever get their life together. And little Jasmine deals with the pain of not getting the attention she craves from her father. It has been said that home is where the heart is. Well, I believe since that's true, that means home is also where the most hurt is.

In Matthew 9 we read about a rich ruler named Jarius who also understood what it means to live in the house of pain because his daughter died. However, because two things happened, Jarius' house transformed from the house of pain to the house of gain.

First, Jarius invited Jesus to his house. Jarius, a rich ruler, went out the way to extend a personal invitation to Jesus because he knew that Jesus was the only person who was able to transform his house. We all should be like Jarius and extend a personal invitation for Jesus to come and dwell in our house. I beleive their is much pain in our home or in many of our rooms because we bar Jesus from entering. But when you grant Jesus an all access pass he will go through you house and touch everything that hurts. As the old song says, "Just one touch from the master's hand will make everything alright.

The second thing that needs to happen is that we all need to put some people out of our house. When Jesus arrived at the house, because of Jewish custom, the house will filled with professional mourners. Jesus attempted to bring hope to the hurting parents, but the mourners stood in the way. As a result, Jesus put everyone out the house except the parents. Jesus then grabbed the parents by the hand and took them into the girls rooms. It's possible some of our homes are in pain because we have too much interference from people who do not live there--people who do not have anything to gain if a transformation occurs. Therefore, we need to restrict the precence of outsiders--single friends, in-laws,BFF, etc.--so that the core family unit can focus on the healing process.

If you follow these two steps, I believe you and your family can begin (notice I say begin becasue I do believe other steps should be taken such as counseling) the transformation from house of pain to house of gain.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Madea's Family Reunion: I'm not Mad at Ya!

In "Madea's Family Reunion" a fight breaks out between a mother and daughter: Victoria and Vanessa. The fight is the culmination of tension that existed between mother and daughter throughout Vanessa's life. Vanessa's father abandoned Victoria when she was very young and Victoria therefore had to market herself as a single mother. Victoria was able to get married, but at a detrimental price for Vanessa because she knowingly allowed the new stepfather to rape her daughter. Because of the malicious way Victoria treated Vanessa most of her life, no one was disappointed when Vanessa tried to slap the color off her mother's face during their brawl at the reunion.
The scene from the movie makes me think of another family reunion and fight that no one would have questioned had it occurred. The reunion I speak of is found in Genesis 42 where Joseph's brothers encounter him for the first time since they forced him into slavery more than fifteen years ago. The brothers come to Joseph because their is a famine in the land and because his new position as prime minister of Egypt made him responsible for food distrubtion. The most interesting aspect about this encounter is that contrary to popular opinion, Joseph does not desire revenge. Better yet, Joseph isn't even mad at his brothers. The reason he is not mad is because his mature assessment of the events that transpired because of his brothers' evil intentions helped him realize that their malicious plans actually helped him attain his dream. Instead of fighting, Joseph actually fed his brothers and blessed them with gifts because "what they intended for evil, God turned into something beneficial" (Gen 50:20).
What's the point? The point is when we encounter persons who have harmed us, instead of seeking revenge, we should thank them because an assessement of our life will more than likely reveal we have increased--naturally or spiritually--in some way or another. Their ill plans may have led you to pray more, read the Bible more, go to church more, work harder, or plan better. In short, enounters with enemies should be a time of blessings, not curses.

Peace!

The Family That Preys

A man named Chris in the movie “The Family that Preys” had big dreams of starting a business. Chris talked about his dream almost every day. Unfortunately, Chris was married to a woman named Andrea who bashed and refused to support his dream. The person who should have been his biggest cheerleader turned out to be his biggest critic.
Sadly, many of us can identify with Chris because our biggest critics are the people who live, sleep, and eat with us every day. It’s one thing for outsiders to disbelieve our potential, but it’s another—more hurtful—thing when our own blood does the same thing.
Home court disadvantage is not a new phenomenon. Joseph in Genesis 37 also had to figure out how to score a winning shot in life while being double teamed, elbowed, and fouled by his own teammates--his brothers--who didn't want him to get a shot off. Like Chris and us, his teammates bashed his dreams and refused to support them.
Despite the technical foul that landed Joseph in the pit, Potiphur's house, and the prison, he triumphed and achieved his championship dream. How did he rebound enough to come back and achieve his dream? He achieved his dream because he and his legendary teammate, God, comprised the ultimate dream team. Joseph achieved his dream because his teammate not only drove the ball to the basket and dunked numerous times, he also had a tripple double--multiple assists, blocks, and steals.
At the end of the day, we will always deal with opposition when it comes to trying to achieve our goals. However, regardless of if the opposition manifests in the form of a friend or foe, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, mother or father, we must trust that as long as we don't trade our MVP, God, we will always triump.

Peace!

Theology of Tyler Perry

I am excited to announce that I recently started a new sermon series entitled "Cues from the Culture: The Theology of Tyler Perry." Now, I will admit I have received much criticism from both young and old for titling a series after the work of Tyler Perry. My own grandmother even disagreed with this series on the basis that some of the things which take place in his movies and plays such as cursing, promoting drug use, random acts of violence, etc. should automatically disqualify his projects from any religious association. I, on the other hand, think his work is, in many ways, an accurate reflection of the complexities of life, both Christian and non-Christian. The reality is we all know a Joe (Madea's brother) who still likes to smoke weed; we know an old person (Madea) who constantly threatens everyone, but really wouldn't hurt a fly and would help anyone who asks;we all can identify with someone in House of Payne; we know women who are/have been abused: verbally, physically, and emotionally. Nevertheless, in the midst of it all, we still experience God, the power of Scripture, and the relevance of the Church. Is this sermon series radical? Jesus wouldn't think so because he used a plethora of cultural cues to reveal lessons about God and life. With that as a model, I do believe this series will enrich each of us grow as we mature in our knowledge of God and self. Please be on the lookout for my next post.
Peace!

Theology of Tyler Perry