I Don't Speak Zebra

In our Noonday and Evening Bible Studies at the Church we have been studying out of the Book of Hebrews. It has been a blessing to my soul and to the overall health of the church. The book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish Christians who were being tempted to abandon the Christian life.

In order to help those who would receive this letter to have a better understanding of the character and work of Jesus, the writer gave this book the word "better" as a theme. As the readers would read this book they would discover that Jesus was a better messenger, one better than the angels (1:4). Jesus was a better apostle (3:1-3). He was worthy of more glory than Moses.

In this book Jesus is also portrayed as a better priest (5:9). He was better than Aaron and Melchizedek. Jesus provided a better covenant because it was built on better promises (8:6-7). Then the writer said that Jesus provided a better sacrifice (10:12). This book closes with the writer showing a better way (10:34). This was the way of faith. The way of faith says, "forsaking all I trust him."

I am now in Chapter 11 where we are continuing our systematic approach now looking at every named person in this chapter from a Character Study standpoint and see what their lives and experiences will teach us. Abel taught us How to Worship! When giving God a gift, we don't give God what we want Him to have but rather we give God what He wants us to bring and that gift is always the best, not the left overs.

Enoch taught us How to Walk with God. To walk with him you must be going at the same pace, headed to the same place, walking on the same path so that you might receive from Him what He has provided. We have now embarked on the study of Noah. Noak teaches us How to Work for God? The Character Study of Noah has really convicted me!

Can you work for God even when you don't understand what He is really calling you to do? Can you remain faithful to your assignment even when you don't see immediate results? Can you give God your best even if the world will give you their worst?

The testimony of Noah 5:22, 6:5 is always the same, Noah did everything just as God has commanded him.

I kept saying, I wonder if that could be said about me and then I realized I am not so sure. This is why the author of Hebrews when naming each person always starts out by saying, BY FAITH each person did what they did. It takes faith.

Faith is the organ by which we are enabled to see the invisible order with certainty just as our eyes see the physical order around us. Faith is not brainless nor sentimental. It is a solid conviction resting on God's words that makes the future present and the invisible seen. It IS NOT a feeling, or optimism nor a hunch or bootleg positive thinking. It is in a word CERTITUDE--a dynamic certainty about what God has promised.

Therefore, faith is only as good as its object and the object of our faith is God as revealed to us through his Word. BY FAITH Noah receives God's instructions in one century only to have to wait until another century to see the fulfillment. BY FAITH Noah builds the ark even when he does not know what an ark is. BY FAITH he build it according to the specifications of God and his Word. BY FAITH Noak makes ready for a harvest he would have to wait over 100 years to come to pass. BY FAITH Noak is looking and expecting rain when in reality he has no idea what that means.

All of that I am fine with. What bakes my noodle is God's command to "bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you" Gen. 6:19 and again Noah did everything just as God commanded him VS22.

I put my Bible down, turned my WordSearch and LOGOS off and screamed as loud as I could, I DON'T SPEAK ZEBRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW CAN YOU MAKE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE FOLLOW YOU THAT DOESN'T SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE YOU SPEAK?

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?

IF I APPROACH A BIRD TO FEED IT, WON'T THE BIRD JUST RUN AWAY FROM ME?

God gave me the answer to this and I look forward to sharing this concept this Wednesday. I will share with you in this forum on Thursday, God willing!

Owens

Congratulations to three Pastors and three Churches

I had a wonderful time in the Lord celebrating three victories today for Pastors and Churches. The first blessing was sharing with the New Salem Baptist Church family as they were celebrating their Pastor's First Anniversary, Rev Anthony Day Jones. We had a great time in the Lord as Macedonia came out in full support and our male chorus did an outstanding job.

The Lord allowed me to preach a sermon that was on my heart from Psalms 119:114, "I Have a Hiding Place". Normally, I don't take brand new sermons out of the house but God has been dealing with me as I have been studying the Book "Discovering Your Spiritual Center: The Power of Psalm 119 by David Teems. I pray we were a blessing to both Pastor and people as we shared that in the Word of God, we have a hiding Place.

While celebrating with Pastor Jones, the second blessing came. We received word that the Second Baptist Church of Dowagiac, Michigan called as their Pastor our friend and fellow blogger Pastor Eugene C. Staples SR. Pastor Staples is a wonderful preacher and visionary Pastor who will serve well. The Leading Lady Kelly Staples is truly a Proverbs 31 woman and will love and nurture everyone that she encounters. Our love and support go out to Pastor and People.

The third blessing came when I found out that FINALLY THERE WILL BE PEACE AT GREATER MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH, OKC. I have a new Pastor in the person of Rev. R.A. Douglas. It has been a long journey since the death of Pastor A. Glenn Woodberry until today. We witnessed the best and worst of people during this process but God has called the right man for the job.

I want to publicly say what I have privately sent to Pastor Douglas. He is now MY PASTOR. I pledge my FULL AND TOTAL SUPPORT to him and his family. I pray this will be a time of healing and restoration for my home church.

Since embarking on this Pastoral journey now entering my 5th Spring at Macedonia, I have followed one pledge as it relates to all Pastors, "If I can't help you, I promise I won't hurt you". That is my pledge to my Pastor Rev. Douglas, I will always seek to help you but pledge never to hurt you.

To the Greater Mount Olive Church Family, thank you for all that you have deposited in me that is helping to bless the Macedonia Church family and the city of South Bend.

To the Macedonia Church Family, I pray we can move on now away from the rumors, lies, distractions and fantasies to go back to doing the work of the Lord here in South Bend and throughout the World.

Owens

Know the True from the False

KNOW THE TRUE FROM THE FALSE

I have heard and read several variations of this story. Some relate it to training bank tellers, some to treasury agents, and some to FBI agents. I don’t know which, if any, is true. The story makes a good point even if none of the stories are true. It is important that [a teller, treasure agent, FBI agent, ???] be trained to detect counterfeit money.

Some are trained to be experts. They study how to test papers and inks. They study to use a micrometer to measure how many 10,000ths of an inch apart the cross hatch lines are on the portraits. Every time a counterfeit is found, they receive updates on the printing errors (scratches, dots, breaks in lines, inconsistent spacing, and so on).

It is a long, tedious, never ending process, but necessary to establish that a bill is a counterfeit in a court of law. Before those studies, each trainee is placed in a room with stacks of money. He is told to count the money. He spends the day counting 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, and so on. He counts stacks of mixed bills for hours. The next day, he does the same thing, counting 100’s, 20’, 5’s, 50’s, 10’s, and 1’s. Hour after hour. This continues for days.

One day, a counterfeit bill is slipped in. He still counts. $403, $413, $418, $438, $439, 4??? When he reaches the counterfeit, he stops counting. He knows something is wrong. He may not know what is wrong, but he knows something is wrong. It would not hold up in a court of law, but he knows something is wrong.

Intimate familiarity is the key. He is so familiar with the real thing, that he identifies the counterfeit without even thinking about it. I don’t know if this story is true or not, but that’s the way we should be with the Bible. We should be so familiar with the truth that when we encounter the false, we know it.

Bound by Bitterness

Getting ready today for our Men's Bible Study tonight where the men of our Church and Community are trying to learn how to deal with our Anger Issues, yes EVEN GOOD MEN GET ANGRY.

In our Noonday and Evening Bible Studies, we are studying the Book of Hebrews. I have anchored down in Chapter 11 and probably won't come up for five or six months as we will do character studies about each hero of faith but in prayerful anticipation, I saw a verse in Hebrews 12:15 that I will use for tonight's discussion with the men:

Hebrews 12:14 (Phillips NT) 14 Let it be your ambition to live at peace with all men and to achieve holiness "without which no man shall see the Lord". Be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives, for if he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others.

The passage warns of us of a very grievous sin that gets a free pass, this sin will ruin a person. The root of bitterness often goes unnoticed, it rarely gets any attention, it is rarely discussed, but it is like a deadly virus that is silently killing its victims. As we discuss this mighty sin, some may ask is this is so, why is this sin so great?

The sin of bitterness is hidden beneath the surface, it is covered up, it cannot be seen in a literal sense. The problem with bitterness is that it has to have a reason; the bitter person has to have something to be bitter at. Often the object of this bitterness has no idea that the bitter person has so much venom toward them. The bitter pill is difficult to digest; it literally destroys the body that is trying to digest its poison.

The strange thing about bitterness is that when it is planted in a life, after it has been watered, when the bitter heart has become fertile ground, other roots spring up. The good thing about a root is that it can be removed while it is in the beginning stages of growth, a small sapling can be pulled up with ease, but as it takes hold the longer it's roots take hold, the greater difficulty we have in plucking it up.

The other roots that grow along with bitterness are easy to identify, hatred, anger, malice, backbiting, division, jealousy, envy, unhappiness, the list could go on I suppose. I wonder if you have let this bitter root into your life, has it entrenched itself within your heart? If it is there how well are you hiding it, are you doing good at disguising it?

The real problem with bitterness is how it swells up at times in our life; it literally can affect our health. It will take a person to the grave; it can bring forth the deepest form of depression. As you look over your life, is the bitterness worth the pain, are you not tired of carrying this heavy burden around?

I have found that some people are bitter with God, their spouse, their child, their job, a promotion, a promise, a pain, and sometimes the church, what is your object of bitterness? As we wrestle with this green eyed monster of bitterness a decision must be made, will you let it flourish or will you cut it off, pluck it up by the roots?

Your Bitterness must be Admitted and Faced. Quit Hiding, Quit Justifying, Quit Lying, Tell the truth, look your self in the mirror and look at the beast within you.

Your Bitterness must be Abandoned and Forsaken. When we look in the mirror, we fix whatever is wrong. No one sees something that is wrong with your appearance and does not try to fix it.

I am writing my list of things for tonight;s meeting. Maybe you need to write the things that have developed a bitter spirit in you and fix it

It's Actually a good Day, When you Consider

I admit this is one of my favorite commercials presently playing on TV. It's not because it is so funny or has cute animals or cute graphics but it has a message that speaks to me every time I see it.

Let me say I am not advocating Nationwide Insurance. I am sure they are a fine company with great people providing a necessary service but my intent is not to get people to sign up with Nationwide Insurance. Feel free to choose whoever you like, can afford and is best for you. Again, I just like the message of the commercial.

Do you get the message? Not Nationwide's message but the underlying message of the commercial, if not look at it again and then come back and read this..............go ahead..............I can wait.
, hint it shows up about the 28 sec mark of the commercial.

The commercial opens with two men in a car who are buckled in upside down just experiencing a car accident. The insurance man receives a phone call stating that he has some bad news and some good news. The bad news is the customer's car is probably totaled but the good news is because Nationwide has a program called Vanishing Deductible, for his years of good driving he will pay no deductible.

The jingle is now sung NATIONWIDE IS ON YOUR SIDE. Good Commercial, but that's still not the REAL MESSAGE. Yes Nationwide did a great spot pitching its product of vanishing deductible but that isn't the real message.

In the last sentence of the commercial, the company man for Nationwide says, "IT'S ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD DAY...WHEN YOU CONSIDER". There is the real message!

Replay the spot! This person just had a car accident. He may be injured and require medical attention. He is still trapped in his situation by the device that saved him. His car is completely totaled and may have to find alternative transportation for a short time. His world has just been turned upside as symbolically he is sitting upside down..............and through it all, it still can be said, "IT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD DAY WHEN YOU CONSIDER".

There comes times in our lives where we need to consider, take a step back, BREATHE, look around and reevaluate, reassess, reconsider our situation.

I was just in a car accident................but I am still alive
I am sitting upside down.....................but I wasn't thrown out
I don't know what I am gonna to do...........but God will make a way
I have lost everything....................................but I still have hope
I couldn't save my car..................................but I saved my coffee

That's my word of hope for someone today, Take time to consider in the middle of all that is wrong, look at what is right. Nationwide didn't mean to create a religious commercial but they did. There is one one more shout within that 30 second spot. Notice where he was when he considered.

He was still strapped in, upside down, half injured, not sure of his future when they word of hope comes, "IT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD DAY WHEN YOU CONSIDER".

In the middle of our situation, not when we go on vacation, not when we take a mental holiday, not after a few drinks but right in the middle of our situation we can consider. You may ask how is this possible.

Paul says it better than I can in Philippians 4:8 ESV Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things

OWENS

Luther J. Taylor Sr appointed to South Bend Board of Public Safety

The Pastor and People of the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church come together to congratulate of Deacon, Business Manager, Sunday School Teacher and a Child of God, Deacon Luther Taylor for his appointment to the Department of Public Safety Board for South Bend, Indiana.

Deacon Taylor is South Bend living African American History as he was the first Black Fire Chief of South Bend, Indiana. He served over 21 years in this position and was the longest running ever Fire Chief in South Bend History.

He serves currently as the Manager of Emergency Preparedness for Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center Hospital in Mishawaka, Indiana. He is a faithful member of the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church.

Deacon Taylor is a Pastor's dream, a man who follows God, supports the Pastor, tithes according to the principles of God's Word, works with other for the benefit of the Kingdom and truly understands the motto, If I can't help you, I won't hurt you.

On behalf of the entire Macedonia Family, Deacon Taylor, WE LOVE YOU AND WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU.


MAYOR BUTTIGIEG APPOINTS FORMER FIRE CHIEF TO BOARD



Luther J. Taylor Sr. will serve on the South Bend Board of Public Safety South Bend—Mayor Pete Buttigieg has appointed Luther J. Taylor, Sr., former South Bend fire chief and former director of the St. Joseph County Emergency Management Agency, to the South Bend Board of Public Safety. Taylor served 21 years as fire chief in South Bend. He is the longest serving chief in the department’s history. Taylor retired April 16, 2007 after 34 years of service to the Fire Department.

“I am honored that Luther Taylor will continue to serve the residents of South Bend on the Board of Public Safety,” said Buttigieg. “His years of service to the community are exemplary and he will ensure that our public safety officials and officers are held to the
highest standard.”

Taylor joined the South Bend Fire Department in 1972 and on January 12, 1976, Taylor was promoted to captain. Four years later, he was named battalion chief of fire suppression where he implemented the HAZ-MAT team and served as its first coordinator. Taylor was named fire chief in 1985 by former Mayor Roger Parent.

“This is an opportunity to give back to the community after 34 years with the Fire Department,” said Taylor. “This is also an opportunity to continue to work on the important issues facing public safety. I’m honored that Mayor Buttigieg has asked me to become a member of the board.”

Taylor will replace Bruce J. BonDurant on the board. BonDurant is the stepson of the new fire chief, Stephen Cox, and resigned due to a conflict of interest. Buttigieg will swear in Taylor before the next Board of Public Safety meeting on February 15, 2012 at 9:15 a.m. in Board of Works Conference Room on the 13th floor of the County-City Building.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Father of Black History

Recently, the men's ministry of our church had a fellowship where we took the younger boys of our church out to the movies to see the film Red Tails. It was a good time; however, we learned many things. One of the most striking things that stood out from this encounter was how many of our African-American boys didn't have any knowledge of who they are or where they come from.

I was reminded of these words: "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history"

These are the words of Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, distinguished Black author, editor, publisher, and historian (December 1875 - April 1950). Carter G. Woodson believed that Blacks should know their past in order to participate intelligently in the affairs in our country. He strongly believed that Black history - which others have tried so diligently to erase - is a firm foundation for young Black Americans to build on in order to become productive citizens of our society.

Known as the "Father of Black History," Carter G. Woodson holds an outstanding position in early 20th century American history. Woodson authored numerous scholarly books on the positive contributions of Blacks to the development of America. He also published many magazine articles analyzing the contributions and role of Black Americans.

He reached out to schools and the general public through the establishment of several key organizations and founded Negro History Week (precursor to Black History Month). His message was that Blacks should be proud of their heritage and that other Americans should also understand it.


Carter G. Woodson was born in New Canton, Buckingham County, Virginia, to former slaves Anne Eliza (Riddle) and James Henry Woodson. Although his parents could neither read nor write, Carter G. Woodson credits his father for influencing the course of his life. His father, he later wrote, insisted that "learning to accept insult, to compromise on principle, to mislead your fellow man, or to betray your people, is to lose your soul."

Ambitious for more education, Carter and his brother Robert Henry moved to Huntington, West Virginia, where they hoped to attend the Douglass High School. However, Carter was forced to earn his living as a miner in Fayette County coal fields and was able to devote only a few months each year to his schooling. In 1895, a twenty-year-old Carter entered Douglass High School, where he received his diploma in less than two years.

From 1897 to 1900, Carter G. Woodson began teaching in Winona, Fayette County. In 1900, he returned to Huntington to become the principal of Douglass H.S.; he finally received his Bachelor of Literature degree from Berea College, Kentucky. From 1903 to 1907, he was a school supervisor in the Philippines. Later he traveled throughout Europe and Asia and studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris. In 1908, he received his M.A. from the University of Chicago, and in 1912, he received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.

During his lifetime, Dr. Woodson developed an important philosophy of history. History, he insisted, was not the mere gathering of facts. The object of historical study is to arrive at a reasonable interpretation of the facts. History is more than political and military records of peoples and nations. It must include some description of the social conditions of the period being studied.

Woodson's work endures in the institutions and activities he founded and promoted. In 1915, he and several friends in Chicago established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The following year, the Journal of Negro History appeared, one of the oldest learned journals in the United States. In 1926, he developed Negro History Week and in 1937 published the first issue of the Negro History Bulletin.

Dr. Woodson often said that he hoped the time would come when Negro History Week would be unnecessary; when all Americans would willingly recognize the contributions of Black Americans as a legitimate and integral part of the history of this country. Dr. Woodson's outstanding historical research influenced others to carry on his work. Among these have been such noted historians as John Hope Franklin, Charles Wesley, and Benjamin Quarles.

Whether it's called Black history, Negro history, Afro-American history, or African American history, his philosophy has made the study of Black history a legitimate and acceptable area of intellectual inquiry. Dr. Woodson's concept has given a profound sense of dignity to all Black Americans.