The 'watch' principle that crisscrosses the Bible is positioned in a garden, where a praying Christ, hours before His crucifixion, rouses a sleeping church to action. The text takes place pre-resurrection, but Christ points us here to the power and the purpose of the church’s post-resurrection mission. Each of the gospel writers give differing narratives of post-resurrection activity. ·         Matthew’s account includes conspiracy, bribery and coverup on the part of secular

Luke departs from the norm in narrating the Resurrection story, inconspicuously using the third-person pronoun “they” ten times in the first nine verses of the account. “They” form the verb conjugation of the plural person. It is only at verse nine that Luke gives names to characters, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James. It was “they” who “ told these things to the apostles”  verse 10c. The apostles were conspicuously absent from the tomb. They, the apostles,

The “watch” principle is not limited to the New Testament. Paul admonishes Timothy to “watch your life” (I Timothy 4:16).  Christ urges his disciples to “watch and pray” (Mattew 26:31). The writer of Hebrews reminds the brethren that the elders are charged to “keep watch over your souls” (Hebrews 3:17). But in the prophetically relevant book of Habakkuk, there is a clear and distinct intentionality present: “ I will stand upon my watch …” (Habukkuk 2:1). The prophet, in chapt

In Philippi, Paul warns the early church “watch those dogs”! Paul intentionally uses abrasive language with the term “dogs”. Dogs in early times were considered unclean scavengers; it was a pejorative term aimed at a group of churchgoers called “Judaizers”. Judaizers were a faction in the church at Philippi who demanded new converts to the faith follow all Jewish legal proscriptions, including circumcision, to be fully accepted into the faith. Paul sarcastically charges them

Read and Reward is our FREE summer reading support initiative for boys entering the third or fourth-grade next academic school year.  Read and Reward celebrates progress and builds confidence through recognition and incentives. We imagine a world where Black and Brown boys are excelling in reading and are flourishing academically, spiritually, socially and civically. We envision connecting books, mentorship, and meaningful rewards to inspire a love of reading among our fourt

This week we announced the premiere of our Jubilee Bible Study Series entitled Watch Your Life: The Believer’s Guide to Thinking, Speaking and Acting Confidently in a Belief-Challenged World  (WYL), based on I Timothy 4:16. Watch Your Life will examine the Apostle Paul’s “watch” theme in his first letter to Timothy. Paul writes with a sense of urgency to Timothy and does so personally, pastorally, and prophetically. Paul does not want Timothy to lose everything he has gained

The pericope in Mark 6 narrates Jesus returning home to Nazareth and discovering that He could do "no great work" there due to the unbelief which pervaded. We may learn some theological lessons from Christ's encounter at home. In the text, Jesus had launched a major crusade in the regions of Galilee, healing the sick, raising the dead and preaching and teaching. His success was so spectacular it reached the "Oval office" of his day - that of Herod the Tetrarch. Perhaps for a

Who should be paying attention to the Black boy reading crisis? The simple answer is everyone, but not everyone is. We tend to blithely accept that the reading crisis occurring among our Black boys is a problem for the education grouping. Yet we are constantly reminded that school administrators, educators and staff are not as committed to ‘solving’ the problem of literacy as we may believe. The ‘solution’, in far too many cases, is assigning black and brown kids to special

A jubilee is a celebration or commemoration or anniversary. It stems from "jubilation" or joyful celebration. Leviticus 25 lays out several rituals to follow at the onset of the observance. The aim: the restoration of equity among the Israelites. America is approaching a moment of national jubilation, celebrating its semi quincentennial or the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document which reads in part that " all men

If you had not seen it with your own eyes, you’d swear you had just awakened from a bad dream, one in which a sitting president of the United States of America shared on his official White House account a meme depicting a former president and his wife as apes. You may have wanted to pinch yourself. But, as the seconds faded into minutes, you knew it was real. Such were the sullen aftereffects of a symbolic American racial apocalypse in the twenty-first century in the form a t

In pursuit of our goal to help young males achieve a greater degree of personal and academic success, we are launching an initiative to foster a love for reading among our target demographic. It's called  Read and Reward ! And it's just that: We are challenging scholars to read a book this summer (2026) and get rewarded for it! This initiative will be channeled directly through your campus; the selected text for the program (see brochure) will be shipped to your office.  The

In 2025, the publication The Lancet published an article detailing the disparities in mental health for Black Americans that lead to unfavorable health outcomes and “increased morbidity from mental illness due to centuries of racism.” Read: In the aggregate, Black Americans are literally dying from the centuries-old effects of racism. Mental stress is the new silent killer of Africans in America. Only now, with the second inauguration of Donald Trump, our stress is no longer

In Why We Can't Wait , Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. trumpeted the urgent need for immediate action against the forces of racial injustice, particularly in the context of those who were urging cautious restraint and to "pump the brakes", as Dr. King put it. Similarly, as the nation recently watched in horror as two civilians were gunned down by masked armed ICE agents in Minnesota, we are faced with the same moral dilemma as our civil rights forebears. This is a dark moment in

In pursuit of our goal to help young males achieve a greater degree of personal and academic success, we are launching an initiative to foster a love for reading among our target demographic. It's called  Read and Reward ! And it's just that: We are challenging scholars to read a book this summer (2026) and get rewarded for it! This initiative will be channeled directly through your campus; the selected text for the program (see brochure) will be shipped to your office.  The

The prophet Jeremiah preaches against the backdrop of unjust and unrepentant attitudes. The loyal covenant-keeping people were being victimized by ruthless powerbrokers. Jeremiah, seeking clarity, approaches God and wonders aloud, "Why do the wicked prosper?" Jeremiah's question reverberates across time (Psalm 37), and even into the modern century. We struggle with questions of power relations, where the rich seem to get richer, the poor even poorer. God queries the prophet:

In John's gospel, Jesus prays for unity of believers, asking for believers to be one with God and one another as a powerful witness to the world. On this weekend in which we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we must ponder if we are living up to Jesus's prayer as well as our collective progress in the struggle for peace and justice. Dr. Drew Dellinger, former Scholar in Residence, MLK Institute at Standford University, writes: "At the heart of Dr.

Our ministry theme is reflective of three unique aspects of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Christ declared the coming of God's kingdom on earth; Christ dismantled human structures arrayed against the disinherited; Christ discipled the heart, his disciples and continues to disciple the church. Jesus' Declaration Was Unequivocal To declare is to acknowledge possession of; to make known or to reveal. In Luke 4:18, Jesus Christ announced his ministry and its attendant parameter

Scripture tells us to appreciate the "now", as opposed to the "tomorrow" we cannot control. Even if our now is clouded with trepidation and uncertainty, there is repose within. If you are reading this, you saw a sunrise. God willing, you will see a sunset. What to do in between these God-inspired beautiful poles of life? Create an intention of gratitude. Be thankful. Be grateful. Know that you are blessed beyond measure. This is the victory of the moment which seizes the day

Join the Charley and Dorothy Croomes Foundation for our 2025 Dorothy J. Croomes Memorial Socks for the Homeless Drive.  Our goal for this campaign is to double the number of 9,174 unhoused men, women, and children in the Valley to whom we give out socks. The drive launches Monday, December 1, through Friday, December 19, 2025. You can help by donating and/or dropping off white crew socks at 220 N. 12th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85034. For more information, email: info@pastorwe

On April 5, 2025, millions of people will march in protest of the attempts to dismantle the federal government, and advocate for the...