Religion
United in Faith Worldwide
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
Breaking a century-old tradition in the name of health and safety, the largest convention organization in the world has moved its annual in-person event to a virtual format for the second time in as many years, canceling nearly 6,000 conventions in 240 lands.
In an enthusiastic interview with the Black Press, Robert Hendriks, the U.S. Spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, said that since 1897, summer conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been held yearly at stadiums, arenas, event centers, and theaters across the United States.
Free of charge and open to the community, delegates attending these multi-day events and filled hotels and restaurants in the host cites, Hendriks stated.
Viewing an uplifting Bible-based program was a highlight of their year and gave attendees the opportunity to reunite with old friends and make new friends.
In 2020, the pandemic unexpectedly interrupted that tradition moving the international religious organization to cancel in-person conventions throughout the world and launch a global virtual event. This was a first for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Powerful by Faith!” is the theme of the 2021 global event, which the witnesses are delivering in more than 500 languages to households throughout the globe over six weekends during July and August 2021, uniting some 15 to 20 million people in 240 countries.
Since the convention is typically held from Friday through Sunday, the program will be available in six installments corresponding to morning and afternoon sessions. “Friday” morning’s session began streaming and available for download on June 28, 2021.
The potential risk of bringing thousands of people together in cities around the world prompted the organization to opt for a virtual platform for the second consecutive year.
“We didn’t just want to mitigate the risk, we wanted to eliminate the risk,” said Hendriks. “Our virtual convention unites our congregants around the world and keeps them safe.”
The move to a virtual platform has not curbed the enthusiasm for the annual event. Congregations around the world are inviting the public to join them in this historic occasion.
“Faith has helped our global brotherhood to continue to thrive even during a pandemic,” said Hendriks.
“Our faith will continue to unite us in worship—even virtually—as millions gather in private homes around the world to enjoy a powerful and inspiring spiritual program.”
Hendriks said all are invited to attend the event by going to www.jw.org on the web or JW Broadcasting on the free JW Library app available for iOS or Android, or on streaming platforms like ROKU TV, Apple TV, and others. The program is free and accessible to all.
Click here to see Hendriks interview with the Black Press.
For more information on the “Powerful by Faith!” Convention, visit www.jw.org.
Choose Confidence and Discipline Over Arrogance and Ego. It’s on You
Spiritually Speaking
By James A. Washington Jr., Publisher of the Dallas Weekly
I have come to believe that confidence and discipline are spiritual concepts. Better yet, confidence coupled with discipline must surely be Godly. This coupling should by no means be confused with arrogance and ego. Faith requires discipline and together with spiritual confidence, the Godly result is power. The example I’d like to use is what happened in the Upper Room on Pentecost.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the saints present, confidence and discipline is what resulted. These were already faithful people, but their lives would be forever changed as they received the power to spread the Word of God, a Word that changed the world.
When you internalize this in a before and after scenario as I have, you begin to see their confidence coupled with a newfound Holy Spirit-driven discipline, that takes their faith to new heights.
Prior to this, the faithful huddled in secret, being faithful to the belief, that Jesus was truthful in His Word. He would send another. The “other” we know, turned out to be the Holy Spirit who gave them more of what they already had. Their faith was fortified with confidence and discipline which manifested itself in a unique ability to communicate and the world has not been the same since. If this is true, then it might prove valuable to you to understand where you might find this kind of discipline and confidence.
Where do you go to get your gifts fortified? How do you manage to balance confidence, discipline, power and of course faith?
I just happen to believe that without spiritually based confidence and discipline, it is practically impossible to stand up to the daily challenges of life and the temptations that sometimes control our out-of-control behavior.
You see, the good news of the gospel is that wherever the Holy Spirit chooses to take up residence, change must occur.
Of those forty or so saints in the Upper Room, many were faced with the opportunity to make their own lives easier if they would deny God in favor of man. Like Peter said before the Sanhedrin after the day of Pentecost, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard,” Acts 4:19.
This is the same Peter who denied Christ three times; an act of cowardice or simply the challenge put before a man not yet buoyed by the power of the Holy Spirit? Boy what a difference a day makes.
You remember Paul at Ephesus? “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” Acts 19:6. Now, these twelve men were already baptized but the Holy Spirit was not yet in them.
After that, we are told they began to preach the gospel. Can you see the point?
Look inwardly and make room for the Holy Spirit. Then seek his face. You are set apart. I believe the discipline coupled with the confidence of knowing you are a candidate for housing the Holy Spirit, gives you the power of the faithful as promised by God.
I pray for this on any number of occasions. I think you might want to consider it also. That is the power that awaits you.
May God bless and keep you always.
Biden, Harris have experiences needed to heal country’s wounds, Bishop Barber says in inaugural prayer service
Nationally, more than 140 million poor and low-income people live in the United States, or 43% of the country’s population, and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, with organizing committees in 45 states, is building a moral fusion movement to address the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism and a distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. Our demands are reflected in our Jubilee Platform. We also have listed 14 policy priorities for the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration and the new Congress.
Both the new president and vice president have the personal experiences with the breaches in America that will help them heal the country’s wounds, Bishop William J. Barber II said in the sermon he delivered as part of the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service.
“The breach is when we say ‘one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’ with our lips while we see the rich and the poor living in two very different Americas.
And every now and then, a nation needs breach repairers to take us forward,” Bishop Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, said during the recorded sermon.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris invited Bishop Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and minister of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to deliver the homily during the interfaith service hosted by the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
President Biden knew the breach of economic struggle in his childhood and the breach of a broken heart, while Vice President Harris has known the political and social breach of racism, which tried to place a breach between her intelligence and the school she could attend, Bishop Barber said.
Bishop Barber, who also is a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, noted prophet Isaiah’s conviction that “We don’t have to put up with things as they are. We can contradict the breach with every prayer, every policy, every sermon from every pulpit, and every call to the people.”
“No, America has never yet been all that she has hoped to be. But right here, right now, a Third Reconstruction is possible if we choose,” he said.
The Poor People’s Campaign is a movement of people who also know the nation’s breaches with state activists and leaders who organize around an agenda that includes a living wage, health care for all, union rights, paid sick leave, housing and just COVID relief.
When then-candidate Joe Biden joined the Moral Monday Mass Assembly on the voting power of poor and low-income people in September front of over 1 million viewers, he vowed that, “ending poverty will not just be an aspiration, it will be a theory of change — to build a new economy that includes everyone, where we reward hard work, we care for the most vulnerable among us, we release the potential of all our children, and protect the planet.”
In December, more than 30 leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign, including poor and low-income people, economists, public health officials, clergy, organizational partners representing millions across the country, met online with members of the Biden-Harris domestic policy team.
The Poor People’s Campaign also released 14 policy priorities for the first 50 to 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration, including the establishment of a permanent president council to advocate for its agenda.
In his sermon, Bishop Barber said the nation cannot accept that 140 million Americans were poor or low-income even before the pandemic.
“We must address the five interconnecting injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, war economy, and the false distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism,” he said.
“These are breaches that must be addressed, and, according to the text, repairing the breaches will bring revival,” Bishop Barber said. “If we the people, with God’s help, repair the breach, revival and renewal will come. Weeping and mourning may endure in this night of our discontent, but joy will come in the morning.”
The Gift of Black Theological Education & Black Church Collaborative kicks off
Free event at 7 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021,features Princeton scholar Dr. Eddie S. GlaudeThe Gift of Black Theological Education & Black Church Collaborative enhances the Historically Black Theological Institutions (HBTI) and the Black Church. The Black Church has been at the center of Black culture for more than 200 years, as well as one of the ways to combat systemic racism and other social ills. The HBTIs are founded to address the Black Church.The Collaborative will bring together denominational leaders, scholars, and congregants to not only address racism and social issues but also build leadership capacity in congregations.The Church has long been a source of leadership in the Black community and provides the pathway for enrollment of students in the HBTIs. By strengthening the work between the HBTIs with the Church, the Church will address the theological education of leaders for the Church. It is the intention of the Collaborative to inform a new generation of leaders engaged in building new pathways forward in America.The Gift Collaborative will be officially announced at its first event at 7 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. The free Zoom event will feature Princeton scholar Dr. Eddie S. Glaude’s presentation, “Awakening the Church: A Call to Respond to Systemic Racism.” Glaude is an expert on race in America and is a frequent commentator on the nation’s ongoing racial injustice issues.The Gift Collaborative is a result of relationship development and collegiality among the six HBTIs: Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina, the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio, Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia, Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C.The denominations participating in the collaborative include: The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ), Baptist General Convention of Virginia, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME), Church of God in Christ (COGIC), General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Baptist, and the United Methodist Church.The Jan. 21 event is open to the public and the media. Registration can be found here: http://www.thegiftcollaborative.org/
A Statement from Wisconsin Faith Leaders
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Former Urban One Executive Dr Yashima White AziLove Launches Trip Network
FORMER URBAN ONE EXECUTIVE DR. YASHIMA WHITE AZILOVE LAUNCHES TRIP NETWORK, A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF UNAPOLOGETIC PROFESSIONAL AND ENTREPRENEURIAL WOMEN OF FAITH
Visionary Creates Digital Community of 500+ Women and Virtual Marketplace Ministry Event Driving Discussion About the Integration of Spirituality, Business & Leadership
PHILADELPHIA, PA – DEC. 1, 2020 – With more than 20 years as an award-winning brand communications executive for Fortune 100 companies,Dr. Yashima White AziLove recognized a yearning in the workplace for a greater integration of spirituality and ethical decision-making. A formerUrban One executive and the founder and managing partner of Magnate Consulting, LLC, White AziLove accepted this calling to integrate her love of business and ministry. She did so by launching Yes! TRIP, a unique event experience and a budding movement of multi-ethnic women who seek to be unapologetic in their womanhood, faith, and career. What started as a simple event in March 2019 has evolved in the last year into the TRIP Network, an inspiring lifestyle, professional and global community of more than 500 women.
From insurance, healthcare, and financial services, to the banking and entertainment industries, White AziLove’s career has exposed her to the triumphs and tribulations of leaders at every level. Whether C-Suite or middle management, leaders faced the same dilemma: How do you guide, inspire and create an ethical organization while meeting company goals?
What she found is a desire for principled corporate decision-making driven by moral imperatives and soul-centered practices. Acknowledging a growing demand of like-minded women seeking to walk in divine purpose, power and prosperity, White AziLove is curating a live virtual marketplace ministry experience, Yes! TRIP 2020, on Friday, Dec. 11 – Sunday, Dec. 13. The gathering promises an opportunity for women to be wholly edified by the fiercest women speakers successfully operating at the crossroads of professional, personal, and spiritual development.
“Our professional, personal and spiritual lives do not need to live in isolation of one another; full integration is possible, and quite frankly essential for true success,” White AziLove continued. “The Yes! TRIP virtual conference is designed to equip women of faith to use their spiritual muscle to demand the career of choice, manifest their desired life, or build a prosperous business even amidst a pandemic.”
Melinda F. Emerson, America’s No. 1 small business expert, SmallBizLady and publisher of Succeed As Your Own Boss website; Sirena Moore-Thomas, founder/CEO of The Highmark Group, LLC, and host/producer of The B.M.W. Life™ Podcast; and Amanda Miller Littlejohn, personal branding coach and host/producer of the Package Your Genius Podcast are a few of the speakers tackling a variety of topics, such as “Help Reinvent My Business” and “How Do I Love Me, Can I Count the Ways?”
Yes! TRIP reads and sounds like an oxymoron. Women have spent a lifetime telling one another and being told, “Don’t trip!” or “Stop trippin’!” In short, this empowerment experience is redefining the term and is releasing women to Yes! TRIP. As a virtual marketplace ministry, this is for women who want to TREVAIL in life, family, career, and future; REINVENT their career, business, and mindset; and tap into their God-given INTERNAL POWER.
For women who feel 2020 has zapped the “life” out of them, or are ready to revoke their “career victim card” following a layoff, furlough or a dead-end gig, or are tired of being sick and tired, they can register online. Tickets are $69 and includes private 1:1 video network chatting, conference materials, virtual vending/exhibition, and on-demand viewing of each session for a limited time following the event.
For more information about Yes! TRIP 2020 “Finish Strong,” including the conference agenda, visit https://dryashima.com/. Interested parties are also encouraged to engage in online conversation by tagging #YesTrip2020 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT DR. YASHIMA WHITE-AZILOVE
Dr. Yashima White AziLove embodies the term, “multi-faceted.” She is a print and television journalist turned award-winning brand communication strategist, certified professional coach, meeting planner and mediator, and a sought after internationally traveled speaker, media personality and consultant. Dr. Yashima is currently the Managing Partner of Magnate Consulting, LLC, and teaches at Western Governors University. She is an Amazon best-selling author of “The Making of a Successful Business Woman.” Dr. Yashima has a career spanning more than 20+ years; she’s held corporate marketing communications officer roles at Urban One, Inc., Mercy Health System and Firstrust Bank.
White AziLove is also the Assistant Supervisor Designate of Eastern New York Third Church of God in Christ, Inc.; the founder of the TRIP Network; and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is University of Pennsylvania graduate holding dual degrees from the Annenberg School of Communications and the Wharton School of Business. She received certification from Harvard University’s Executive Leadership Program and holds a Doctor of Divinity from the Mason Washington Kelly Bible College.
ABOUT TRIP NETWORK
TRIP is a network of multi-ethnic women of faith who are serious about their career, business, and ministry. A growing community of more than 500 women from the United States, Bahamas, Canada, England and Nigeria, this global sisterhood is actively looking to network and nurture one another. The organization was borne out of the inaugural Yes! TRIP three-day in-person marketplace ministry experience launched in 2019 by Dr. Yashima White-AziLove.
Haven Of Hope Pays Tribute To Its Leader
Long time worker in ministry, and staple in the community Bishop E.R. Brown, and his wife of over 30 years Deborah Brown, were celebrated in a a array of musical talent. Headlined by speaker Dr. Leslye Walker-Edwards, the event was shear elegance. As you walked in, a quartet played a rhythmic melody that truly established the atmosphere for the night. As the sat at the top of the sanctuary perhaps the only thing more classy, was the tables covered in fine linen, food preparation and lights in the back of the church. There was singing done by a choir with amazing voices, mime dance, praise dancers an all out celebration. A fitting event for a man who has served over 29 year in capacities like street ministry, Sunday school teaching, even helping to train up young men outside of the church. A powerful woman of God was necessary, as his wife is heavily gifted as well being able to pray and cover him through his their many endeavors.
A remarkable church ran by remarkable power house couple, I was honorees to provide the mime for the event, )which is a acting out of a gospel song). To many more years of happiness to you all.
COMMENTARY: Beware of Those Seeking a Pat on the Back! Disaster Ahead!
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Doing what you know is right —forgiving your enemies, turning the other cheek, helping the less fortunate, speaking truth to power — these are the things that are supposed to be done so that others might see the deed(s) as glorifying the Almighty; not so that people will be impressed with you.
Spiritually Speaking…
By James A. Washington Jr., Co-Publisher of the Dallas Weekly News, NNPA Newswire Contributor
My mother used to have a phrase when she was alive. Usually referring to me and my attitude when I thought I had done something particularly noteworthy. She used it when describing somebody who started acting like they were better than someone else or, basically felt their No. 2 didn’t stink. She would say that person was simply, “smelling him or herself.” I came to see it as fishing for a compliment.
The bible says unless your deeds are done to glorify God rather than yourself, you’re ‘smellin yoself.’ I’m here to tell you it’s at these times that one ought to be very careful because spiritually, you’re entering deep water. “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward in heaven.” Matthew 6:1.
It appears that intent and motivation are the true indicators of a person’s real character and ultimately how he or she is viewed by God. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons gets you nothing, zilch, nada. I mean, supposedly, if you are trying to impress friends and family, or trying to receive honors from your fellow man for doing good deeds, you’re smelling yourself and sorely in need of some Right Guard.
Doing what you know is right —forgiving your enemies, turning the other cheek, helping the less fortunate, speaking truth to power — these are the things that are supposed to be done so that others might see the deed(s) as glorifying the Almighty; not so that people will be impressed with you.
Even in prayer, the bible says, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Your Father will reward you. Matthew 6:6.
Haven’t we all been unimpressed with someone who appears to sincerely help us or help another person out of what appears to be the goodness of their heart, only to find them with their hands out to get theirs, or their backs turned so the world can pat them on it? God tells us in His own ways that if you do that, talk to the Hand because the ears ain’t listening. You don’t give to receive, and you don’t love to be loved. That’s blackmail. That’s extortion. It’s impure and spiritually unacceptable.
Give because you want to and love because it’s who you are. Anything else is a fraud and an affront to Jesus who gave His all and loved unconditionally, so that we all might live. “In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise the father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
Granted, walking around with that level of purity in one’s heart might be a bit much for most of us, present company included. However, it’s pretty easy to know, acknowledge and understand that the real reason we reach out to someone else is to be seen as a good person by others.
We all want to be thought highly of by our peers, our parents and those closest to us. But in reality, only God counts when it comes to appreciating who we really are. Anything else is show. The rest is ego. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 186:18.
All of this points to being true to one’s self, then talking the talk and walking the walk. The echo of mother wit resonates in my mind as I try to remember exactly what mom was trying to teach me about myself.
Before I get too full of me, the real test just might be a good whiff of the fragrance underneath my arm. Nobody can pour anything into a full vessel. How you ‘smellin’ today?
May God bless and keep you always.
House Passes Bipartisan Bill to End Muslim Ban
WASHINGTON, DC — On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 233-183 to pass the NO BAN Act (HR 2486, formerly HR 2214). The NO BAN Act is a historic Muslim civil rights bill that would end the Trump administration’s Muslim and African Bans and close loopholes in immigration law to prevent future presidents from enacting similar discriminatory bans ever again. Muslim Advocates worked with members of Congress to shape the bill and helped lead the effort to get it passed. The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera:
“For the first time ever, a chamber of Congress has passed a Muslim civil rights bill. We went office-to-office and district-to-district to gain support for the NO BAN Act and convince House leaders to make it a priority. But most importantly, this vote marks the beginning of the end of the Muslim Ban—a cruel policy that continues to tear families apart. Now we must take the fight to the Senate where we refuse to stop fighting until every senator hears from us and the bill lands on the president’s desk.”
On Thursday July 23, at 2 PM ET, Farhana Khera will join Reps. Judy Chu, Ilhan Omar, André Carson, Rashida Tlaib, Zoe Lofgren, Pramila Jayapal, Jamie Raskin and Don Beyer at a celebratory press conference for the NO BAN Act. Click here to register and also send an RSVP to [email protected].
The National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act was introduced in April 2019 by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA). Muslim Advocates worked with both offices to help shape the legislation and led the NO BAN Act Coalition, an alliance of nearly 400 faith, national security and civil rights organizations working to support it. Muslim Advocates also worked with Postmates and Airbnb as they led a coalition of more than a dozen leading corporations in support of the bill, helped lead efforts to get House Democrats to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill and collected the stories of people impacted by the ban.
In September 2019, Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera testified at the first ever congressional hearing on the Muslim Ban. Additionally, Muslim Advocates met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and led a coalition of civil rights leaders to urge the Speaker to ensure that the bill would receive a vote in the House.
Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.