Picking Up

For nearly a month we have wrestled with the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Most of the time, we have watched on television, night and day. For Joslyn and I Hurricane watching has become a ritual.

When Hurricane Rita moved through Texas and South Louisiana, we started to feel some of the winds in Monroe. Over the weekend power was out in most of South Monroe because power lines were toppled by falling trees, bent to the extremes by the wind. For many, power still has not be restored three days later.

We heard the whistling of the wind and the crackling of tree limbs around us. A giant Oak tree behind our home cracked like a toothpick as it crashed into two houses behind our home. The tree poked holes in the roofs and stuck its limbs all the way to their floors. Electrical wires snapped and dangled into the streets.

All night we heard limbs falling from the tall Pine and Oak trees in our yard. Because their branches stretch over our home like great fans in the summer, we anticipate the worse in storms. Their potontial is devastating in strong winds. We fully expected one of those trees to plunge through our house as well.

By Sunday morning, most of the neighborhoods looked devastated. Tree branches, downed electric lines, and debris were everywhere. Amazingly, we still had electric power but no cable connection. When we arrived for worship, our congregation was was miniscule. Most had been battling the storm in the dark all night.

A family of 35 from Lake Charles worshipped with us. They spent the weekend cramped in a local beauty shop. Another family of 20, also fleeing Hurricane Rita shared with us as well. The sermon God gave me addressed the moment, "Life Is Not Fair, But God is Good."

We fed our guests after the worship and returned to our homes to pick up after the storm.

All we had was just the risidual winds of the storm, and we were dislocated. Those who were actually in the storm endured more.

As we drove home the sun began shining brightly in the sky. The clouds seem to break away and allow the reassuring sun rays to make a bold entrance. It was a striking contrast to the broken community we passed as we drove.

The sun was a welcomed sight.

It reminded me that "After the storm, the SON will shine."

God is still good.

We All Have Our Inner Tubes

Last night a Hurricane Katrina evacuee gave a testimony. We were meeting concerning our response to the diaster. The evacuee told how her son was stranded in New Orleans on a roof top with water rising all around him.

Just when he thought he would drown, he sent up a final prayer. Suddendly an inner tube floated by and he grabbed it and floated to safety when he was picked up by a helicopter.

That innertube saved his life.

We all have our innertube situations. I have certainly had mine.

Sometimes the Lord answers my prayers in grand ways. Then sometimes he does it in small simple ways..

...like floating inner tubes our way!

Soles Repaired free of charge

My favorite shoe repair shop closed. 

I scanned the phone book to discover that there is only one remaining shoe repair shop in our city. One place left that repairs holes in soles. I have a few pairs of shoes that I have been wearing for years. Each time the soles or heels wear out, I take them to the shoe shop for new half soles and heels. The shoes are just like new at a third of the cost of new ones. 

 \That's been my habit most of my adult life. Repair good shoes, don't throw them away. 

 Apparently, my method is not fashionable anymore. Folks are not getting their soles repaired; they are throwing away old shoes and buying new ones. Resultingly, shoe shops are going out of business. (They don't seem to repair anything: marriages, relationships, friendships; they just throw them away and get new ones.) 

 I pace, so my favorite pair of black loafers often have holes in the soles. 

The other day I felt rocks on my socks as I walked. That's when I knew I needed sole repair. I found the last shoe shop in town. The repairman looked lonely, glad to see a customer. She said I can pick up my repaired shoes Monday; they'll be like new. 

There are times when I feel like there is a hole in my soul, just like my shoes. I can feel the rocks of this world making things uncomfortable. 

 I'm glad that God hasn't gone out of business. He's still in the business of reviving worn-out souls and making them just like new. He's not in the Yellow Pages, but he is in the Book. 

My shoes will cost me about $25 Monday, but I'll have new soles. When God revives me, though, there is no bill. Jesus paid it all.

Ravels, New Shirts & Cufflinks

When I returned home from the National Baptist Convention yesterday, I returned with 10 new shirts. They are multi-colored with my last name embroidered on the left collar. More importantly, they have cufflinks.

A few Sundays ago, my old white shirt that I've been wearing, with other old ones for about six years, had a ravel dangling from the sleeve. I didn't see it, but everyone else did, including thousands who watched as I preached on television.

After the service no one remembered what I talked about; only the ravel that floated through the air, clinging to my shirt sleeve everytime I moved my left hand.

Joslyn said that's the end of it. No more ravels. She said I am to get new shirts and cufflinks. Fancy shirts and cufflinks are low on my priority list. I'd rather cut the ravel off the shirt and keep wearing it; but Joslyn says the public will fault her for my ravel, saying "Why does she let him go out like that."

Now I have new shirts and some fancy cufflinks.

I'm not a flashy person. They look good, but they are not "me."

Since they won't ravel soon Joslyn will be pleased.

I have a few ravels in my life that keep showing too. Sometimes I embarass myself and can't focus on what I should be doing because I keep looking at my ravels. Fortunately, God looks at the inside and not the outside.

What does Joslyn think about that?

She says it's true that God sees the inside, but "black folks are not God they only see the ravels"...keep wearing cufflinks!

Ah Atlanta-Reborn

Joslyn and I are attending the National Baptist Convention this week in Atlanta. It is a city of high rise buildings whose pinnacles seem to touch the sky. It has beautiful parks, several wide eight lane streets and hustling commerce.

When General Sherman burned this city during the Civil War its inhabitants looked at the ashes and thought it could never be rebuilt. Margaret Mitchell even wrote a book about the determination of Atlanta citizens and Scarlet O'Hara, called "Gone With The Wind."

I see Atlanta and I think about New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina. It certainly can rise again.

Atlanta left behind its endearment of slavery and much of its racism. Maybe, New Orleans will have to leave a few things behind when it rebuilds.

To be born again, we can't do the same thing again. We must be brand new.

The good must rise from the spoils; the bad must be "Gone with the Wind."

Can't write a check

My wife Joslyn has always said that computers were going to be a curse on us. Now she's partially vindicated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Because I bank with New Orleans based Hibernia Bank my banking capabilities have been limited to making deposits and withdrawals up to $100.00. No online banking. No electronic transfers. Automatic withdrawals for regular payments have been halted. Credit card receipts from business activities can't be posted.

Hurricane Katrina has taken out many businesses in the New Orleans area. UPS has 2,200 employees in 22 buildings; they have not heard from several hundred of them. Georgia Pacific Railroad had 8,000 workers, they are out. BellSouth has reporte 1.6 million phones not working. Cox Communications has 1000 employees, 500 in New Orleans.

Then there is Hibernia Bank.

I'd open an account at another bank, but I can't transfer any funds.

The bible says in the last days that that the world would become totally dependent on a evil number based system that will not allow us to sell or buy anything or even make commercial transactions with the Satan's approval.

We have not reached that point in the Revelation prophesy, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina let's us know how close we are to the fulfillment of the prophecy.

Joslyn has been predicting a computer dependence meltdown for a long time.

However, she's not laughing about being right....she can't write a check or use her debit card either!

Hurricane Fallout

I went to the makeshift shelter in our community for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The number has grown here to 2,200 in one place. Yesterday, it was announced that another 5,000 are expected.

The number of hurting people is overwhelming.

It looks like a battle zone in the relief centers. There is so much need, yet what we are able to do seems so little.

To sufficiently rise to the occasion takes a united effort. I'm afraid the disunity of our community is beginning to reveal the cracks in the dam.

The Red Cross controls the whole process, the overwhelming majority of its staff and leaders are white. The overwhelming majority of the evacuees are Black.

Black agencies such as "Community Action" and other Black community relief groups are excluded from the relief process inner circles.

When that happens it means that big money is being raised, distributed and handled. Whites have a tendency to have a great compassion for the poor when there is money available.

So, most of our churches stand on the sideline doing what they can individually, but are being excluded from the big picture as others "help" our people...for a profit.

Jesus said the "poor you will have you always."

I guess that applies to poverty and disaster scavengers too.

Helping the Hurricane victims

Our city is filled with people who have come here from South Louisiana seeking refuge. Many are sleeping in cars, trailers, and tents. About 1700 are residing in the Civic Center here and hundreds more are staying in recreation centers in surrounding towns.

It is devastating to see so much hurt in South Louisiana. Even those who escaped to Monroe still have nothing in New Orleans, Biloxi and other cities. It's all underwater or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

It is encouraging to see people lock shoulders and help in a thousand small ways. Our church is washing and drying clothes, preparing food and our youth are walking the dogs of those stranded. Countless numbers of God's people are showing love when it is needed most.

We are compelled to act.

Jesus said what we do for the "least of these" we do for him.

We are praying and trying to help. We don't know how long that will be, but we intend to help as long as it is needed.

It's the least we can do.

Watching the Hurricane

Joslyn and I have been up watching the path of Hurricane Katrina. It is moving toward New Orleans at the moment, expected to make landfall with 25 foot surges and winds of 150 to 184 miles per hour.

Thousands have moved out of the Hurricane's path. A storm center has been set up here in our city for hundreds of South Louisiana citizens fleeing the storm. The youth of "Top Gun" our church youth ministry, are on standby to help move in cots and supplies for those stranded.

We have friends and associates in South Louisiana. We stayed up to watch, out of concern for them. All we can do at this point is pray for them.

Storms, hurricanes and tornadoes seem to be more frequent. Inconsistencies in the weather, national discord and other events are all indicated in scripture as signs of the last days. As the last days of this system approach it is expected that conditions will get worse before Christ comes and makes them better.

The chilling effect of watching great storms and cosmic events is only balanced by our faith that God is still in control of things....even the wind and waves of Hurrican Katrina.

100 New Boys in seven days

Joslyn and I have just finished the recruitment week in our youth leadership program called Top Gun. We visited schools, talked to parents and planned a weekend to invite them to the program.

We've been at it constantly since Monday.

Today we concluded the weekend, which included two overnighters for the youth who will spend seven years in the program. We're both hands-on in our involvement, so it is personally draining.

I'm relieved, tired and frustrated.

I'm frustated because four out of five of the 100 new youth from Elementary through high schools have not attended any church in their lives.

Neither have their parents.

If that is the mark of this generation, one that "knows not Joseph or the God of Joseph" then it may explain many things.

It also explains why we can go so frustrated that we stop doing what we do.

Two Mothers?

I'm still trying to understand yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in California recognizing two lesbians as the mothers of a set of twins.

With donated sperm and ova donated from one of the "mothers" a set of twins was born. The couple broke up later and one of the "mothers" sued for parental rights. California says the lesbian petitioner is indeed a "mom" with all the responsibilities and rights of a mom. So the twins have two mothers.

I was reared by a whole community of mothers. Before I was seven, I lived in a dozen or more homes, with a dozen or more mothers. My father had custody and he often paid people to keep me in their homes.

When I spent the summer on the plantation with my sharecropper grandparents in Panterburn Mississippi there was a grandmother and a countryside filled with mothers.

When I came to church at Tabernacle there were dozens of mothers, all of whom who took an interest in me. The lady across the street from me became my mother too. In fact, I moved in her house for several years. There were more.

They were what Hiliary Clinton calls the mothers of the "village." They looked out for me.

I thought about something ele. The California twins had one father, a sperm donor. However, when a person accepts Christ he has one father, and a lot of brothers and sisters, and mothers too.

Even if our parents, lesbian or otherwise, give us difficult situations to live with, like having two mothers. If we know Jesus, we still have one father...

Who cares.

I Had Chit'lins Today

I enjoy the fine culinary tastes of the best of our people, but every now and then I get a hunger for some real food.

What's "real" food? Pigtails, pig ears, pig feet, tongue, trite, brains, ham, cracklins, and of course chit'lins. Combine that with mustard greens, collard greens, corn bread, rice and gravy, sweet potatoes and a tall glass of water and you're eating high on the hog.

So, I stopped in a soul food restuarant today. I ordered myself a plate of chit'lins, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, rice and gravy and cornbread. It was a feast worthy of a polite and secretive belch. I broke every health and etiquette rule in the book!

I had grease on my mouth, so I know it was good!

Jesus talked about a different kind of hunger. Hunger for righteousness and thirst for the Word of God. He promised that those who feed their spirits on his word would never hunger or thirst. I hunger for the Gospel too. I thirst for that too.

However, I still crave a big bowl of collard greens cooked with ham hocks and served with hot buttered cornbread.

I don't need a fork, I'll eat that with my fingers!

I'm so Countreeeeeee!

A $423 alignment bill

I took the Honda CRX to get that wheel replaced yesterday. What was supposed to be a simple wheel replacement and alignment cost more, but it had to be paid.

It turns out I needed two tires, an alignment, tie rod ends, and a wheel rotation. Final bill $423.00. After I got over the shock of the cost I drove off in my little 1985 red CRX feeling pretty good because everything was straigtened out.

The same rings true for us spiritually. The price of our salvation was a death on a cross. It was a high price.

But, thanks to Jesus we have the assurance that everything has been straigthened out and realigned.

Jesus paid for my salvation, unfortunately I had to pay the $423.00 for little Honda. Thanks to his grace, I shelled it out and drove away.

Wheels Out of Line

I like to drive a little red Honda CRX, 1985. It's old but it runs and it's paid for. My wife drives the new SUV Expedition.

Someone pointed out to me yesterday that the right front tire of my CRX is worn to the thread. I hadn't noticed. It's dangerously close to the blow out stage. I'll get my wheels aligned today and a new tire.

Our lives can really get messed up when our alignment is off. It wears our spirituality to the thread. Without a realignment, we're all close to the blow out stage.

As for the 20 year old CRX...as long as it starts and runs 30 miles to a gallon of gas, I'll keep driving it!

Thieves and Burglars

The police surrounded my office after the alarm went off. Our district association has been meeting this week, but I had to skip out when I received a call that my buglar alarm had been tripped by burglars.

I watched as police dogs moved through the building and police officers stood outside with hands on their holstered weapons shouting commands to the burglar if he was in the building.

After about an hour the drama was over. With the exception of the broken glass and fingerprint powder everywhere, it was done. Nothing was taken apparently. The alarmed surprised the burglars.

It was a reminder that Jesus said not to put your trust in worldly goods where burglars and thieves can get to them. We should put our treasures in heavenly things where they are safe in the trust of God.

The burglars apparently didn't get the message.

For those burglars who don't follow Jesus' teaching...we buy burglar alarms.

I Fell Down

I'm still laughing at myself. I know everyone present got a good laugh because I still chuckle everytime I think about it.

I went to a community meeting Monday night to hear presentations from our school board members. I sat up close to the front, shaking everyone's hand and doing the cordiality thing. When I sat down, my chair slipped from under me.

I tumbled backward as if I was drunk. My chair seemed to run away from me. There was nothing to hold on to. My feet spread apart and flew up into the air!

Once everyone saw that I wasn't hurt they had a good laugh. I did too.

There was the pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church and publisher of the local newspaper with his feet up in the air like a drunk man. It was too funny.

That's the way it is in life. Sometimes what you thought was there to support you is not there. You reach for something to hold on to but it's not there.

We fall down!

Thanks to Jesus, we get up!

I got up..but it was still funny.

Bubble Bath and A Wake Up Call

After a week at the Youth Encampment at Southern University, I had a chance to take a full bath, instead of just a shower yesterday. The showers at Southern were very nice but nothing takes the place of a good hot bath.

I drew a full tub of water, added fragranted bubble bath. The temperature of the water was hot enough to boil a cob of corn I suspect; but I like hot baths.

With bubbles everywhere, I sat in the tub. It was relaxing.

I wonder if there will be bubble baths in heaven? I guess not; especially since we won't get dirty or smelly or tired.

I'll miss the bubble baths when I get there, but I'm sure I'll get over it..quickly.

Before I knew it I dozed off to sleep..in the tub. I dreamed about bubble baths in heaven. I was running around on clouds, wrapped in a towell, blowing bubbles! I passed Moses and Elijah and blew bubbles at them. I shook hands with Martin Luther King, and said hello to Mary McCleod Bethune and Marian Anderson. I blew bubbles as I raced past all of them, floating like an astronaut in space from one cloud to the next.

Floating!

Blowing bubbles!

Then the phone rang!

When I woke up, the bubbles were gone. The water was luke warm and the bubbly dream was gone too.

I don't know what heaven will be like, but one thing is for certain, once the dream of eternity begins we won't wake up to find that the bubble are gone!

Getting to the real me

I'm attending the Louisiana Baptist Youth Encampment this week in Baton Rouge. It's a week long retreat for Louisiana youth to reflect on their spirituality, sponsored by the State Convention at Southern University.

Yesterday, as I ate breakfast, I watched the myriad of youth pass by with a variety of fashions. Then I noticed that the adults were similar in their fashion statements, just more conservative. It struck me how far we go to present a face to the public that may not be the real us.

A weave looks good, but it's not the natural hair of the wearer. A girdle can make me appear thinner. Contacts, fingernails, padded bras and hips, false teeth, girdles and rows of gold plated teeth, all present an image to the public that may not really be us.

It's not just youth, it's adults too. We all seem to mask who we really are behind something else. There are several layers of articificial appearances and personalities that we have dig through to get to the real us.

God cuts to the chase. He's ignores our weaves, contacts, pads, clip ons, etc. He looks straight at our heart. Man sees the outside and can be fooled by appearances. God judges the heart.

Our outward masks may give us an artificial appearance before others, but they won't change the way God sees us.

God saw us in the shower!

He knows the real deal!

Another Case of Popcorn Today

I bought a case of popcorn yesterday. It's the kind in the packages complete with the oil and popcorn salt in the same package. I buy popcorn by the case. I don't like micro-wave popcorn. Either pop it in a pot on the stove or churn it out of a popcorn machine.

So, I gave myself a present a few years ago. I bought a popcorn; just like the one in the movies. It's always filled with hot, fresh kernels. When I walk in my door the smell of popcorn meets me everyday. It's my favorite snack.

The problem is that my favorite snack often replaces my meals. Even though it's low on calories and has plenty of fiber, it's short on protein. It's quick, convenient and tasty, but not very nutritious. It's supposed to be a snack; not a meal.

There was a time when I tried to exist spiritually on snacks; everything really nourshing took too long or had a high cost. The problem with snacks, you know, a little praise here, a little worship there; a bible scripture every now and then is that they were not really nourishing. They were spritual snacks.

I learned that I need more spiritually to be fully nourished; snacks were fine but not sufficient.

Now I study regularly, pray constantly, worship, serve and give. I believe I'm on the right right level of the spiritual food pyramid.

But that popcorn machine that keeps turning out the snacks...that's a horse of different color.

Where are the volunteers?

A group of young people from across the nation come to our city every year to spend a week repairing the homes of the poor and the needy.

This year, the group called "Work Camp" is spending a week in 100 degree heat helping 18 famlies repair their homes. They are painting, repairing screens, steps and making other changes.

The youth pay over $300 a week for the "privelege" to stand in the heat and sweat for a week helping people they do not know. At night, they sing and pray and sleep on the floors at a school.

After a week they return to their homes. Hundreds of youth like these are doing the same across the nation.

This week's Sunday School lesson is about helping the needy in the name of Christ. At Bible Study last night we talked about the need for missionary service. The "Work Camp" volunteers were given as an example. They were praised.

Why is it that, allowing for a few exceptions, most volunteers such as these are whites helping Blacks?. It's rare for Blacks to volunteer to help whites in such efforts.

The people in the neighborhood watched as they worked in the sun. They thanked them. They praised them.

It just appears that we won't volunteer unless we are being paid to volunteer. We are definitely not going to pay over $300 for the privelege of working in 100 degree heat, working for free and sleeping a hard school floor.

As I reviewed Sunday's lesson from Matthew 25:31- I thought of the "Work Camp" volunteers and wondered to myself, "Where are the volunteers?"

Are we sheep or goats?