Recently added articles from The African American Pulpit:
Report from the Front Line: THE PASTOR'S ISSUE
Dec 01, 2008; ... We present a special and important edition of The African American Pulpit (TAAP)- "The Pastor's Issue." In this issue, we attempt to address some of the needs and the concerns of pastors. We believe that being a pastor is a difficult job in these perilous times, and we want to provide resources ...
I BELIEVE in Miracles: A Critique of Insensitive Pastoral Theology
Dec 01, 2008; ... A few weeks ago, I was traveling to South Africa on a mission/education trip. Forty United States citizens from various cities and states who were traveling with me had converged in Washington, D.C. for the international voyage. One of those other travelers was a 60-year-old native Washingtonian ...
What Does EXEGESIS Have to Do with Preaching?
Dec 01, 2008; ... A few years ago, as I was preparing to teach my first course on biblical preaching at the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, I pondered the question: What does exegesis have to do with preaching? Our answer to this question is of utmost importance, inasmuch as it affects the care ...
Our Life and Our Community: Health Concerns in the Church
Dec 01, 2008; ... Chronic diseases remain a major concern in the African American Church, with high numbers of church members suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and other conditions. Contributing factors are lack of health awareness, noncompliance to medications, inattention to ...
Preaching in the TRANSITION ZONE, Part II
Dec 01, 2008; ... This is a continuation of the author's article "Preaching in the Transition Zone: Pastoring after a Long-Term Pastor Leaves," which appeared in the Spring 2008 edition of The African American Pulpit. I want to continue with the analogy of arriving in the middle of a movie because I ...
GRACE in the Wilderness: Empowerment for Pastors Serving Rural Areas
Dec 01, 2008; ... For many years within the ministerial cir- cles of the Black Church, there has been a negative view of rural rninistry. While in college and seminary, most of the emphasis was placed on how to do ministry in the urban context. For the most part, like many other young seminarians, I planned to ...
The VALLEY of Decision
Dec 01, 2008; ... A Pastor's Installation Sermon 2 Kings 6:6-18, KJV And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. (2 Kings 6:13) Last year we started our ministries reading a book that is helping us as we ...
Lord, Make Us ONE
Dec 01, 2008; ... Genesis 11:8, NRSV So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Lord, make us one. Imagine, if you can, the world as one. No more war in the Middle East, no more starvation in Africa. One. No more polarization ...
A Candidate for the HALL OF FAITH
Dec 01, 2008; ... Genesis 25:8, NIV Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. One of my dad's favorite sports was professional baseball. He would watch baseball day in and day out. As a young boy, I remember watching ...
TRUSTING the Spirit to Lead Us
Dec 01, 2008; ... John 16:12-13, nkjv I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. Some of you are wondering what I've been doing during my sabbatical. Well, I've just been resting up and ...
Yet Holdin' On; STILL LOOKIN' UP
Dec 01, 2008; ... Psalm 121:1-2, NIV I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Today is a joyous occasion. Both the Bland family and the Liberty Temple Baptist Church family ought to rejoice in this day and give honor ...
A FRIEND of the Bridegroom
Dec 01, 2008; ... John 3, NKJV Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:29b-30) In looking at the ministry as pursued by some and carried out by others, there is an area that causes me great concern. It is the area of ministerial identity. It is ...
When Affliction Is GOOD!
Dec 01, 2008; ... Psalm 119:71, KJV It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. Any clergy person who is a pastor within the African American context will experience moments of torment and affliction just as David in Psalm 119. Real or imagined, the affliction ...
A NEW Thing
Dec 01, 2008; ... Isaiah 43:1-21, NRSV I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a ...
Jesus Went FARTHER! Cultural Conformity and the Mind of Christ
Dec 01, 2008; ... Matthew 26:39, KJV And he (Jesus] went a little farther ... Now when we gather, it seems to me that we are seeking one more opportunity to find that fruitful confrontation between the mind of Christ and the culture in which we serve. We are reengaging this encounter every time we ...
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SANDY F. RAY (1898-1979)
Dec 01, 2008; ... Sandy F. Ray was bom in a farming community in Stranger, Texas, in 1898. He was one of ten children born to Sandy and Fanny Ray, migrant farm workers. He attended Arkansas Baptist College and later Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. His family moved to Ohio, and he became the first black ...
A VOICE in the Wilderness
Dec 01, 2008; ... John 3:30, KJV He must increase, but I must decrease. I want to talk to us today about: A Voice in the Wilderness. It is from the third chapter of St. John and you know the story. I shall not read that Scripture. But John the Baptist was a very unique character. He ...
FACING Fears
Dec 01, 2008; ... Psalm 27, KJV The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my ...
WHY Do You Treat Me This Way?
Dec 01, 2008; ... Genesis 34-35 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? (Genesis 34:31, K]V) Permit me to begin this sermon by posing the question: Who are you? Not the you that you want everyone to think that you are, but the you that you live with daily. What is it that ...
The Pastor's PENTATEUCH: Five Essential Books for Any Pastoral Library
Dec 01, 2008; ... There are two important pieces of advice I received when I entered into my first pastorate: 1) keep listening to other preachers in order to feed your own spirit, and 2) develop a strong library of books that will challenge and expand your thinking and add depth to your ministry. We who stand in ...