One Lady Pastor’s Perspective
One Lady Pastor’s Perspective
by Pastor Natalie A. Francisco, Ed. D.
What are the implications of being a female pastor in the 21st century? To be quite honest, both the best and the worst prevail at the same time. Incredible joys juxtaposed by the incredulous jeers of others who even in this day and time assert that women are to be silent in the church and prohibit them from preaching or teaching behind the sacred desk. This causes both delight and despair in the minds and hearts of women who only desire to heed and obey God’s call upon their lives. Such is my dilemma as a co-pastor who happens to be female.
Surrendering All
Surrendering All
By Kimberly Cash-Tate
“I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans…” (Genesis 15:7).
I used to think Abram didn’t have much to leave behind. I pictured him living in a tent in the middle of a desert when God called him. He could easily pick up and go. There wasn’t much happening in Ur anyway.
Boy, was I wrong.
Our Worth Before Birth
Our Worth before Birth
by Pastor Natalie A. Francisco, Ed. D.
I once read the following quote from German-born American Physicist Albert Einstein: “The life of the individual only has meaning insofar as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value to which all other values are subordinate.” Now I don’t know whether or not Einstein was a Christian, but I do recognize the biblical truth that is encapsulated in his statement of the value and sanctity of human life and the indelible mark that each person is capable of making upon the life of another and the world. In fact, that is why God created mankind from the beginning.
While We’re Waiting
While We’re Waiting
by Pastor Sam Livingston
One of the most fascinating and most difficult things for us is the art of waiting. We receive the promise but the waiting really puts our faith to the test. An avid fisher told me one day that a good fisherman almost has to be lazy because you can get impatient. For those of us who has spent time fishing, we know it is either feast or famine. Everybody enjoys the sport of fishing when a school of fishes are passing through. On the other hand, it takes patients to wait on a movement from you line.
Let’s examine what a good fisherman does:
Don’t get bitter, get better
Don’t get bitter, get better
by Paulette Harper
And she said to them, Call me not Naomi [pleasant]; call me Mara [bitter], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?
Ruth 1:20-22 (Amplified Bible)
If you have never read this story, here we have a woman whose life was drastically changed. First, she and her husband, Elimelech, and their two sons left Bethlehem because of a severe famine. Looking for a better life, they journeyed to Moab. While in Moab, Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, dies, and ten years later, her two sons die, leaving her to care for her two daughters-in-law. Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, but upon returning she has no husband or sons, instead a bitter heart.
8-Year Old Filmmaker and Author Wants You In His New Movie and Book, I Can Be Barack Obama
I Can Be Barack Obama: Written by Rriiver Nyile and Edited by Elon Bomani to be Released Summer 2009
Houston, TX (BlackNews.com) – The I Can Be Barack Obama book is story of how the historical election of America’s first African American President has impassioned the life of one small African American boy. It speaks of the love, hope, faith, dreams and triumphs that all children share. Additionally, it is a compilation of real kids’ statements of what "I Can Be Barack Obama" means to them.
