Hetero-Homo Erraticism

Okay. I'm sorry. I can't hold it in for another season. Jay Manuel is hot and i'm not ashamed to say it. Yes, he's gay. And ummmm, yes, he's gay. And last but not least, yes, he's gay. And yes, you may think me strange given my cluster of hetero(me)/homo(them) relationships and my knack for advocating homosexual deliverance and thwarting any unions that oppose the covenant of God. However, to add to that erraticism, i've decided to confess one of the four reasons why I'm glued to the television when Top Model is on.
# 3 - Jan Manuel is good on the eyes. (out of drag that is)

The Evolution of Culture and the Christian Message.

Jeeeeeeeeesssssuuuuus! The Lily of the valley! The bright and morning star! He made a way when there was no way! The lawyer in the courtroom. The doctor in the hospital room. Jeeeeeeeeesssssuuuuuuuussssss!!!!!!!!!!!!

Embracing black church culture for me over the last few years has been quite challenging: The struggle between my roots and upbringing, and my desire to spread the universal message of the gospel to all. They conflict because my upbringing will ultimately affect my message. It’s fact that communication to any given audience will be ineffective when approaching that communication through pre-established bias. The Christian message is the same, however the presentation accented with culture, will affect that message.

So, does Christianity have its own culture? It seems as if the Christian message has been heavily influenced by pop culture, white and black culture, indian culture et cetera. And I personally don’t consider it robbery for the Christian message to be accented by culture, to ensure effective communication to their audience. Even Jesus used present day culture to accent his teaching. So, when the scholars attempt to approach me with time as a means to disregard the message of the gospel, I become discontent with their foolishness. Culture will always be fading, however, the message of Christ and His deity are timeless and universal. So, was Paul attempting to create a separate culture or was he using the present culture to influence his teaching and giving direction? One of my professors would argue that he was creating culture, but I would argue the latter. Paul’s message seemed inconsistent, however, it was rather consistent with the culture of the particular province that he was located. At times he may very well have been creating culture, yet through correcting the present culture that rejected sanctity and advocated for self-deity and preservation. Of course our present day culture has evolved, but the same doctrine of false gods and self-sufficiency continue to pervade, which is why scripture continues to be vital to the order of the Body. Culture is something that is impossible to avoid. That is why Paul said, “To the Jew I became a Jew so that I might win the Jews. To the Gentile, I became as a Gentile so that I might win the Gentiles. I have become all things to all men so that by all means, I might win some.” Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” He also said that heaven and earth would pass away but His word will never fade. Therefore, we can conclude that this Christendom is not a result or a part of created culture.

So why hasn’t Christianity influenced culture? Will it ever? I’m not so sure. Some would argue that we already have. But to me, most Christian efforts have had cultural influence. Gospel music alone has influenced the rhythm and blues arena, but is it not true that gospel music is a result of a culture created by African Americans during their time of great distress? I adore Joel Osteen, yet his ministry has taken full advantage of culture and technology and is advancing in their communication efforts to win souls for the kingdom of God. Some would argue that it is our responsibility to re-establish culture. And yes, I would agree, the notion of the kingdom of God is complex and establishing it here on the earth is our responsibility. However, we cannot deny most aspects of culture that evolves daily with the exception of the culture that would be contrary to the message of the gospel.

Notice the meditation room in Russell Simmons house that has now become a part of his morning routine that includes mediation and worship of the statue of Buddha. Notice, the Taoist yoga that has seeped into our daily lives and become a cultural phenomenon. Notice the great strides that Islam had made in the past to regenerate a generation of black culture and society. It was not culture that influenced these new age forms but it was them that influenced our culture.

So I conclude this: Christianity is not cultural. It is not fading or passing away with time or fads. It is not even Christianity for it has needed a name for those around to relate something to. It is discovery of identity through Christ to bring us back to a relationship with God to establish His kingdom on the earth. That is all it is.

Ebonee's Quote Of The Week

"My license plate number is N as in Nancy, R as in Rachel, Z and Xylophone..."

~Ebonee reading off her license plate number to me so that I could write it down.

Indecent Proposal

So what if?
What if God approached me with the opportunity that for one week, I could live a lifestyle of sin without consequence.
Would I take it?
Just think of all of the things that I could do, places that I could go without the guilty conscience.
Would I accept it?
The life that was so hard to leave behind, I could embrace for one week without struggle.
Even if I could do this without the sense of conviction; even if I were allowed,

Would it be worth it?
This indecent proposal.
If it were offered, and I accepted and took full advantage of this freedom for one week, would it be worth sacrificing the righteousness that Christ had washed and sanctified?
Would it be worth having to struggle after to get back to that place that I fought so hard to get to?
Would it be worth sacrificing my soul for ONE WEEK!
But then came the worst thought of them all.
If God allowed and If I accepted, would it be worth taking advantage of His Grace?
His Love?
His Mercy?
His Kindness?
And I realized that’s what I’ve been doing all along...
Accepting an indecent proposal that had never been offered to me in the first place.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

One cannot blame Mr. McClurkin for what he continues to decree amongst the audience of individuals that he has established for himself, given that the makeup of his worldview consists of Judeo-Christian elements. If in fact the makeup of this worldview includes the Christian attempts to re-structure the kingdom of God as mentioned in scripture, then it is evidenced that this kingdom begins with the foundational family structure that this God created and then instructed that these creatures subdue and multiply the earth. However, the inconvenience of free will that led to what man now calls "sin", interrupted this kingdom edifice. Now those of the likes of Pastor McClurkin through the redemption of Christ, seek to re-establish this kingdom, which consists of those basic foundational elements. So this is the crux of how Mr. McClurkin's viewpoints and perspectives came to be the way that they were, of course with the help of motivating "church mentality fire and brimstone" preaching as you have alluded.

Albeit, I think that your frustration with him is not his choice to leave his lifestyle or his personhood, but his attempts to proclaim to others that they too can walk away. Walking away would assume that one has an option to be there. Walking away would assume that one's behavior was either wrong or evil in nature. In a general sense I personally would have to agree that the terms option, wrong and evil in this case have strong personally destructive undertones. I mean, most homosexuals would hardly consider themselves drunken, thieving, malicious, criminals. On the other hand anything that is divergent to the components of the Judeo-Christian God constructed kingdom, would indicate that in order to align properly to see the kingdom progress, one would have to take personal accountability and change.

So, you see, Mr. McClurkin is only doing his job. As instructed, "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to all the nations", and as instructed he is motivated by his love and desire to see this message of kingdom declared. Now of course there are many other aspects of this kingdom that I have not delved into, but only for the express purposes of this blog. I would not consider Mr. Mclurkin's endeavors futile in nature, but rather, a series of unfortunate events. A series of unfortunate events for those of your cause my friend.