Written by Dave Lenehan My uncles Richard and John did it. My cousins Peter and Roger and my nephew-in-law Alex did it, too. I’ve sat under the teaching of over a dozen more who’ve done it. Even a couple of students who were involved in our church’s student ministry eventually did it. The common “it” factor? They all answered God’s call to become pastors. From the many conversations that I’ve had with pastors – Read more
Written by Victor Stanley Jr. Here’s the problem, I was a gangster, and this means that you didn’t just speak to me any way you please. There’s a level of fear and respect that was accorded to me based on my position in the streets. So, when my homie D’s grandmother started chewing me out in front of her building it wasn’t going to fly. I was 19 or so, and I don’t quite remember what I had done to upset her, but whatever it was she was letting me have it. Of course, as I said, you don’t just talk to me any way you want, and I had to remind her of this, so I very kindly said to her, “Shut the ‘F’ up, who do you think you’re talking to?” (more…)
Written by Dave Lenehan “I can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to do now that we’ve lost this one.” Those were the words of a woman living in the Houston, TX area after losing everything when her apartment complex was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. She had moved to Texas from New Orleans. Guess where she was in August of 2005? In the path of Hurricane Katrina, where she lost pretty much Read more
Written by Victor Stanley Jr. Who knew, that these cats would do things Business as usual Covert operations before they showed they’re true blue We was raised to peep the imposters, No use for boo hoos We play the game proper I see ya baby You looking real eager baby Why don’t you come step on the blocka, I hustled streets from South Beach to D.C.’s Northeast, Pulling through Chicago’s South Side Read more
Written by Victor Stanley Jr. The Ethic of Martyrdom, or the principles of being a witness for Christ, helps us understand that suffering for Christ’s sake serves as:
Written by Márcia Smith
Cains
Every one of us
Bitter fruit of
half-hearted labors
Bittersweet taste
Of a serpentine knock
Swiftly answered; (more…)
Written by Victor Stanley Jr. I puts it all together Me and these hustler’s that used to ball together Can no longer weather these storm together My solution to dissolve these problems is a different type of solvent All men will soon stand in awe when The Lord stand before all them Christ they rejected demands their respect and They used to stand chest out on their own two feet I was Read more
Written by Dave Lenehan The most important week in all of history started with a celebration parade: “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13, ESV) Toward the end of the week, the words of our Read more
Written by Victor Stanley Jr. I’m locked in the streets way of thinking But the world I exist in keeps on insisting That I behave all politically correct, But in my heart I harbor the resistance, Rebellious persistence Against the way that you dudes walk and talk I keep distance between my pearls of wisdom and ya’lls foolish thoughts Sometimes I black(out) and overreact ‘Bout to resort back to fistfights and straps I just Read more
Written by Dave Lenehan If you stop and take a brief but close look at Jesus’ disciples, you realize that they weren’t much different from you and me. Four of them were fishermen, one was a hated tax collector. Some of the others, like Thaddeus and Bartholomew, we’ve been given very little information about at all. But Jesus knew these 12 would build His Kingdom and set in motion the Gospel message. (more…)