Betwixt the Two - Obama between Homosexuals and Black Evangelicals

First it was reported that Obama’s “Embrace the Change” Gospel Tour was under fire because Singer Donnie McClurkin, who is a former homosexual and born again Christian was part of this tour. The Homosexual Activists didn’t like it one bit. McClurkin openly states that homosexuality is a choice and a sin and that he was delivered from it by God and so can anyone else be.

So what does Obama do? He adds Andy Sidden, a South Carolina homosexual activist who claims to be a Christian pastor, to the tour. Now black evangelicals are upset with him.

Wonder how he'll get out of this one?

Several words come to mind.

Ambiguous
Disingenuous
Hypocrite
Insincere
Opportunist
Vacillator

God and Answered Prayer

I recently had a small pity party and cried out to God.

“Why? Why, at 51 years old, having raised 3 boys of my own, and having 3 grandchildren, have You given me an 11-year- old to raise? My youngest boy is 25 years old, God. I wanted some time with my husband…ALONE! Why have You done this?”

After my little party I went on about my daily business.

Within half an hour, God got back with me on my question.

A good friend of mine, out of the blue, asked me if I’d mind if she told me about a personal observation she had concerning the events in my life recently.

“I’ve been thinking. You raised one son and two stepsons that you called your own. Now God has given you an 11-year-old to raise. I wondered why He would do that. Then I realized, He must think you did a pretty good job with the other three…”

I gave her a somewhat startled look, and then told her that God had just used her to answer a question I’d asked Him just a very short time ago. She immediately teared up.

“Why are you crying,” I asked.

She replied, “All week I’ve been praying and asking God to use me and allow me to be an encouragement to someone and lift their spirits.”

I couldn’t help but smile. God had answered both prayers at the same time.

He’s good.

I'm back - Part 3

So my sister is gone. She beat me out of here. But she left behind something...or should I say someone? An 11-year old son. The Father? He's never been in the picture but for a short time. Told his son he wished he'd never been born - and that he wasn't interested in being his father. Real jerk. Hope he gets saved, and I mean that sincerely. If he doesn't, I suspect hell will be a little hotter for him than some others.

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

So the father is not in the picture. My husband and I are. Years ago, before she had any idea she'd get cancer, my sister called me out of the blue and asked if my husband and I would agree to raise her son if something were to happen to her. I told her we'd have to discuss it and pray about it, and then get back with her.

After a week or two of talking about it and praying, my mate said, "Of course we'd take him. He's family. Who else would do it?"

He's really a great kid. Lots of emotional and behavioral issues - but progress is being made. He's really intelligent too - we have to stay on our toes with this guy. It's been about a month since my sis moved on, and he's starting to settle in with us and we are making the transition into a new blended family.

The other day I had him checking the fridge and cabinets for things to put on my grocery list. "You guys have 2 cans of Rotel left. You've got less than a half gallon of milk..." I stopped him.

"You are going to eventually have to stop saying 'you' and start saying 'we'. After all, you aren't a guest here anymore. You're here to stay."

He paused a moment without responding, then opened another cabinet door. "We've only got half a box of cereal. We need to get some more."

It's gonna be ok.

Character Still Matters to Some of Us

Every time Bill Clinton ran for office, the political pundits to the right repeated the same mantra.

Character matters.

Character matters

Character matters.

That’s right! I said. You tell'em! Character DOES matter. We don’t need to put someone in the White House who has questionable character and morals.


Fast forward to the 2008 Elections.

The same political pundits on the right who were chanting about character now seem to be so enamored with Rudy Giuliani that they’ve forgotten their own words.

Or were they just spouting off along party lines?

Rudy Giuliani is not a man of character or high morals. Multiple affairs and questionable behavior throughout his public history leave no doubt that if he was running on the Democratic ticket, his character would definitely be an issue.

So what do Rush, Hannity, and other have to say to that? How CAN they say anything? They can’t justify their support of this guy, even with the “anybody is better that Hillary” argument.

I’m so tired of politics as usual.

I'm back - Part 2

We got to the hospital about 7:00 pm. It was packed. I commented to the nurse about how full the ER was. "Yeah, and it's not even flu season yet," she lamented.

They literally did not have a bed for my sister until after midnight. They gave her something to help her relax, and I saw to it she was settled and comfortable. I told her I was going to try to catch a little sleep and would be back in the morning. She said she'd be ok.

I got in bed about 12:30 am, only to be awakened by a call around 4:00 am.

"We need to know what you want us to do if your sister codes," said the nurse on the other end of the phone."She's struggling to breathe and won't respond to us when we talk to her."

That was quick. Wasn't expecting that. I quickly jumped up, gave my husband a kiss and headed back to the hospital.

Thursday was a long day. Especially for my sister. She had to suffer and struggle for too long before the morphine was sent. I thought I was going to lose my Christian witness.

"There is absolutely nothing you can do for my sister at this point, except to help her with her pain. How long does it take to get morphine from the second to the third floor? Do I need to go down there and get it myself?"

It took about 45 minutes, but that was 45 minutes too long. I can only pray that God's grace helped her to spiritually endure while her flesh was enduring the pain. I can say this. My sister was one tough lady. She was a fighter.

Once the morphine was administered, she settled down and quit struggling. Thank you, God, for the good that drugs can sometimes do.

My brother and my dad were there all day with us. Plus two very dear friends and a host of others who came in and out throughout the day, offering a hug or a prayer.

Death is an ugly foe. I thank God that it has been conquered through the cross and will one day be thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity.

My sister left quietly and is now in heaven as surely as I am writing this post. She knew Who her Lord and Saviour was, and now she's in His presence, along with my mom who went before her. I'm a little jealous about that one. I miss my mom. I had whispered to my sister earlier that day, "Tell Mama I'm a believer now, and that I'll see her soon." Hope she remembered. But considering that heaven is described as unimagineable to us, if she forgot, that's ok too.

So now, my sister's perfect...and I'm not.

There's even humor in sadness. My sister would love to tell me that she's perfect and I'm not...except that now that she's perfect, it wouldn't occur to her, would it?

I'm back - Part 1

Where do I start?

My sister seemed to be doing so much better. Because of her two staph infections, they had to stop the chemo. She had actually started driving again in August because she was going "stir crazy" at home. She grabbed every opportunity she could to "go". Whether it was to AA meetings, church, a movie, shopping, whatever, it didn't matter. She just wanted to go.

Then one weekend in September she didn't get out of bed. She felt short of breath and really tired. The next day was a little worse, then each day after that, until Wednesday she called me at work.

"Can you come help me?" she said over the phone.

I took the rest of the day off and we went in to see her Oncologist. Seems your liver is shutting down, he said. Not good. She said "oh well" and asked about her scheduled radiation treatment the next week on her three brain tumors. Your liver will get you before your brain tumors will, he replied. I took her back home and got her settled in, letting her know if she needed me, to call.

She called that evening.

She couldn't get out of bed by herself. She managed to grab her Bible by the bedside and opened it up to I Corinthians.

"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

She smiled at me and pointed to the Scripture. "That's me. That's where I'm going."

She knew it was time.

Prejudice is a Multi-Cultural Event

After reading Wiley Hilburn’s commentary this Sunday, I felt compelled to share my own observation about an example of racism in Louisiana.

I was recently in a waiting room which happened to be occupied with an overwhelming majority of people of non-white descent. As I sat silently, planning out the rest of my day’s tasks, three young people in their early twenties of non-white descent began talking about the recent elections.

“Now we’re going to be flooded with Iraqis. They’ll all be wanting to move to Louisiana now.”

Puzzled, I tuned in one ear a little more closely to catch the rest of the conversation.

“That’s right. I can’t believe we’ve got an Iraqi in the Governor’s Mansion. That makes me sick. And you can blame the Republicans for that one.”

I tried very hard not to laugh out loud.

It seems prejudice is not limited to whites after all. Nor to the “hard right”. It is most often accompanied by ignorance as well. But then, aren’t the two synonymous?

By the way, thank you, Wiley, for pointing out that the only two non-whites ever elected to the Governor’s Mansion in Louisiana were put there by Republicans, not Democrats.

[Letter to the Editor I sent after reading this]


P.S.: I'm back