Category Archives: MUSINGS

Serve Beyond the Gospel Bird

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My mama used to say if she just got to church for one song and the sermon she was good. Not me. I love all of church. In my childhood AME home, I liked looking at the semi-synchronized acolyte, clergy and choir processional and the directions of the white-gloved professionals, ushers orchestrating seating and signaling each other what their next move would be. I loved the singing and the soulful sounds of saints paying tribute to God with prayers and getting happy in the Holy Ghost. And I still like all this and some chicken, the gospel bird, a permanent fixture in the black church kitchen. Though I love these, I am aware of their seducing power and have escaped settling for the comfort of their sounds and smells. Unfortunately, the lure of tradition and chicken has trapped many in the Christian church and that is all they are equipped to serve.

We have forgotten that the basis of the preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ includes telling other people—not the people we sing and sup with but those outside the church. This message starts with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—His sacrifice to save the world from their sin—but continues on with the scriptural message to love the lost and found to make this world a better place (Hebrews 12:14; Romans 15:1-3).

This is what Martin Luther King Jr. preached. He saw the ails and lost hope of this world and preached about the love and justice that should be in this world. Some people didn’t get it, may still not get it, but his is the message that still needs to be preached, the message that we Christians still need to preach. It is our message, the gospel message, and made possible through the power of Jesus Christ.

So on this day of service in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I hope we seek to serve others the gospel message: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the possibility of a changed world through Him.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Friday Feature: Rest Well

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When I was in college I really had that strong black woman thing going on. I was an officer and in charge of several events with my sorority, was active in my church, worked a part-time job often full-time, took a full course load and made it my business to hang out just about every weekend. I thought I could handle it all until my gums told me something different.

Yes, my gums, those things that hold your teeth, had developed a number of painful lesions that my dentist told me come from stress. That was my first lesson in the impact of poor healthcare on the body. Over the years I received more lessons battling acne, costochronditis (inflammation in the rib or cartilage), Candida (too much bad yeast) and osteoarthritis (loss of cartilage between bones in the joints, often causing them to swell). Sick of just getting chemical injections and taking medications to mask the pain I began a major search for naturopathic medicines to get to the root of my issues. I discovered a whole world of natural ways that God had for me and couldn’t believe how duped I had been into believing that only synthetic medicines could cause me relief. Like me, I know there are some of you who have believed the same thing. Well, for your information and to encourage you to start your own natural health quest, I am going to share with you over the next several Fridays a natural method that I have used that has worked for me. I am also going to feature others who have used natural methods that have worked for them.

    #1—Get More Rest

The first and very simple change that worked for me was more rest. I have to get between seven and eight hours of sleep each night. The first time my gum lesions appeared, my dentist gave me a prescription for penicillin and told me to take it easy. The next time my gums became sore (a sign that lesions were coming), I didn’t seek medicine but rest. I do this every time and rest works.

Rest regenerates the cells. This makes my skin clearer, relieves my pain, and prevents or eliminates my lesions. And we all know that a good night’s rest clears the mind, minimizes bags and energizes the body. There will be times when we can’t get to sleep early enough to get a full night’s rest, but we have to make these times as few as possible. We have to forfeit those regular late night phone conversations, social media interactions, volunteer overtime, and that bedtime movie. These all make me feel good when I do them, but I pay for them when I’m dragging the next day. We also have to stop staying up worrying about things that we can’t change.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.—Psalm 127:2

Life is demanding enough, let alone for those of us recovering from being that unrealistic strong black woman. We need to be healthy in spirit, mind and body. God wants us this way and helps provide it for us through sleep. At the beginning of the year with all our fresh goals, let’s add getting real rest so we can be refreshed, energized and healthy to do the work we are meant to do.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Cleanse Your Soul

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…[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.—Romans 10:9-10.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.—Ephesians 2:8-9

I wonder if we preached these more, practiced lives that reflect these and that our souls are clean because of the sacrifice of Jesus (Romans 5:11) would less people be inclined to believe in the cleansing power of other things, like real and glass eggs.

    Searching for the Soul to Cleanse It by New York Times Writer Ariel Kaminer

Evil Men and Seducers

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A few months ago I drew toward the screen slowly, glued to the tweet that revealed all the heat Bishop Eddie Long was taking: Accused, four times, of taking the innocence from young men and posturing like his interactions were daddy’s privileges. Still, we don’t know if it’s all true, who lied and what prices will be paid to settle the dust of it all. Though he recently agreed to mediation instead of a trial, the dust won’t really settle. It will cover and cling to a church and its leader’s reputation like relics in the attic, kept around for nostalgia’s sake, a way to remember the good that used to be. As the process continues to find who is at fault and perhaps get to the truth, I’m reminded of this:

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.—2 Timothy 3:13

This verse is the story of our day. Headlines blaze with the latest charlatan coming and carrying folks away with enticing words and various schemes. Some say this may be Long. I say whether Long is a charlatan or not, we must learn from this verse because we are all vulnerable to being deceived.

Evil men are those who are ethically bad, wicked people. Though they could be people in the church, they are probably those outside the church. I say this because the next phrase in the verse is seducers, written to be distinct from evil men. It means deceivers/imposters. These people are concealed evil men, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their mission is to act like they are Christians so they can be deceiving, which means leading away from truth; leading into error. Imposters have to be among believers so they can blend in. They are our teachers, worship leaders, ushers and, of course, our preachers. They come with agendas, intending to do wrong from the very start. These fake Christians work to lead people away from the truth of God’s word, supplanting and twisting it to suit their desires. And I believe they do so easily because, as the verse tells us, these seducers, too, have been deceived. They have been led away from truth and into error so when they are leading others, what they have are lies to give and with these lies they will lead others to do wrong. Paul, the author of 2 Timothy, is telling us that there will be an increase in the amount of evil people outside and inside the church. Both these groups have nefarious intentions, causing great harm to the world and the church. Without claiming to have the Spirit of God, the wicked outside the church may be easier to spot. The tricksters are the ones we really have to watch out for.

What has been your experience with evil men and seducers? Please comment on the blog site so we can get a lively discussion going.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Worldly Wisdom

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With age comes wisdom, usually. This is why I love fellowshipping with the aged in my life, in my family, church and neighborhood. I have learned so much about motherhood and men, gardening and grooming, cooking and cleaning and how to seek hard after Christ. But recently when spending time with one of my aged loves, I saw how God’s wisdom can evade when worldly wisdom creeps in its place.

“When people are going through and want you to tell a lie sometimes you have to support them.” I wanted to respond to the woman who has taught me much about intelligence and integrity and who would call women out when they lied to her. I had to just listen, to search for some sort of sense in this.

She went on to tell me that her friend who has suffered several health challenges had to leave her place because she couldn’t pay the rent. Now trying to get a new lease, the woman asked my aged love to pose as her sister and say that the woman lived with her, that she has been paying her rent on time and my friend could vouch for her credit. As the story and my silence went on, the strength of my love’s voice weakened. I then asked, “Can’t you be charged with fraud if found out? Are you willing to experience that?”

    “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
    “Oh, okay.”

We both knew things weren’t okay, that telling a lie was larger than we wanted it to be.

Even among the sage, with friends in desperate need, we can easily rely on our own devices, not thinking about where the lies may take us or where they come from:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

Sometimes we may suspect that the wisdom of our lies is worldly (earthly) or from old wives’ tales (unspiritual), but I don’t think most of us consciously think our thoughts are demonic. I know my aged love didn’t and wanted me to approve of her selflessness to help a soul in need. I know if I think about well-intentioned lies—those white ones, those little ones, those fibbed and information-omitted ones—as demonic I’ll be less inclined to consider them, and, with hope, you will, too.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith