There are two prominent schools of thought within conservative Protestant circles that continue to clash over what Christianity is about because their starting points comprise different biblical theological visions. I use the word “prominent” here because I fully recognize that there are other more nuanced voices in the Christian diaspora. No “binaries” or “false dichotomies” […]
Pastor H.B. Charles Jr. challenges the “office” of Armor Bearer in a recent article. He writes: He picked me up from the airport. We headed straight to the church. I wanted to look over my manuscript once more before I preached. But I took a few minutes to chat with my driver. I asked my […]
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past 48 hours, you’ve probably seen the video by now. Sunday, during a service at T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House Church, Tyler Perry stood before the congregation and announced a sizable $1 million dollar donation to a youth center the church is developing. Before he took his seat though, he […]
Editor’s Note: This is a short article for the purpose to generate conversation based on the book The Good Life by Trip Lee. Please join us on each Thursdays for our book discussion.* We don’t want to admit it, but we fall for lies every day. Each day we are presented with a promise of […]
Editor’s Note: This is an unofficial addition to a much needed conversation taking place at christenacleveland.com entitled “Black to School: African-American Voices at Christian University”, a 7-part series that aims “to affirm and give voice to the long-silenced stories of black students.” As an alumnus of a Christian University, I thought it might be helpful to […]
Smoke & Mirrors As an avid sports fan, I tend to keep current with the events of the sporting world. From baseball to football, hockey to English Premier League Soccer, I try to catch it all. Even with all of that, my favorite sport is and forever will be basketball. I love the highs and […]
The Fascination with Heroes From Ulysses to Superman, mankind has been obsessed with heroism. With so much evil, it’s not hard to figure why we’ve created masked men to make life safer by fighting the atrocities in our news. Because we’re so fascinated by heroes, there’s limelight ready for them. [Tweet “From Ulysses to Superman, […]
While many people look to the Reformed African American Network (RAAN) to represent the unified opinion of Reformed Blacks, RAAN is not the voice, it’s a microphone. Reformed Blacks Are Not Monolithic It would be a mistake–though perhaps an understandable one–to read a post on RAAN and suppose, “This is what all Reformed Blacks think […]
For the past decade or so, there has been a philosophical principle masquerading as the central point of Christianity and the M.O. for God’s blessings, and it has captivated a good number of Christians. This philosophy has infiltrated sermons, books and whole churches and is promoted as normative for the Christian life. Genesis 8:22 has […]
What exactly is the good life? Is it retirement, riches, relaxation, minimal responsibility, ease? Sounds rather good to me. But maybe there’s something more. I want to find out and I’d love for us to discover it together. Over the next several weeks we will be going through The Good Life, written by hip-hop artist […]
Most churches find teaching the Scriptures to be a daunting task in an increasingly unbiblical culture. Add to that the difficulty of sharing God’s Word with the illiterate and the church’s growing wariness over a tech-saturated gospel and the difficulty increases. However, there are some who display a keen desire to bear the burden of […]
“So what are you?” a new acquaintance asks me. “If you don’t mind me asking…” “Well, what do you think I am?” “Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure… umm…” (stares intently) Silence. “So… are you going to tell me?” “Well, give me your most educated guess. And then I might tell you.” In past […]
Kendrick Lamar has single handedly challenged every rapper to get better! At least that’s what I’m supposed to believe after his featured verse on Big Sean’s song, “Control”. For those who don’t know, Kendrick is a young, up and coming rapper from Los Angeles known for his ability to weave words together in complex ways. He’s a talented […]
Have you noticed our obsession with heroes? It’s everywhere. It’s in our stories, our movies, and our celebrity culture. It’s why we pull for Lebron James or the Baltimore Ravens or Team USA. It’s why we follow John Piper or Barack Obama on Twitter. It’s why we watch The Dark Knight or The Avengers or […]
The biggest risk facing young, Reformed Black men is being thrust into ministry too soon. The acute need for the unique blend of theological and cultural gifts these young men offer sometimes causes churches to send them out before they’re ready. Sincere and Sincerely Misguided The landscape is littered with the crushed hopes of churches […]
Today, my daughter Amber broke her glasses. It was not something she had intended to experience, or even thought would be possible. It just happened. Immediately, she began to cry and ran to me to comfort her. She did not try to fix her glasses, blame someone, or hide what happened. Amber just ran to […]
As a twenty-something year old African-American and native of Jay-Z’s hometown, Brooklyn, my cultural surroundings were embedded with Jay-Z’s music. To say that Jay-Z was celebrated among my peers would be an understatement: the reality is that I had friends who digested his brilliant lyricism for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And many of them, as most inner-city kids […]
Recently, The Gospel Coalition published an article written by Joe Carter called, “Preachers of L.A. Brings the Prosperity Gospel to Reality TV”. I appreciate what Joe Carter had to say in this article, and know that it is going to take many more articles, sermons, and books like this to expose the prosperity gospel for what […]