We continue our new series as we pause to reflect, from a theological perspective, on National Mental Health Awareness Month. I have named this series Crucial Conversations because I believe it is incumbent for us to create a dialogue among the faithful about the many issues we confront in this new century, which is just a quarter old, yet resonates with stupendous change, momentous challenge and tremendous complexity. In week one, we asked, We Are Saved, But Are We Well? ba

In our pluralistic, secular-based and information drenched society, what are the challenges that face Black Christian youth and how may the church respond? I suggest the challenges are varied and complex and demand no less a response from church leadership in the twenty-first century. From academic performance to dating to where to attend college to parenting and sibling conflict, there is a single thread that can determine a teen’s success or failure: communication. African

We continue our new series as we pause to reflect, from a theological perspective, on National Mental Health Awareness Month. I have named this series Crucial Conversations because I believe it is incumbent for us to create a dialogue among the faithful about the many issues we confront in this new century, which is just a quarter old, yet resonates with stupendous change, momentous challenge, and tremendous complexity. In week one, we asked, We Are Saved, But Are We Well?, b

We continue our new series as we pause to reflect, from a theological perspective, on National Mental Health Awareness Month. I have named this series Crucial Conversations because I believe it is incumbent for us to create a dialogue among the faithful about the many issues we confront in this new century, which is just a quarter old, yet resonates with stupendous change, momentous challenge, and tremendous complexity. In week one, we asked, We Are Saved, But Are We Well? 3

Today, we begin a new series as we pause to reflect, from a theological perspective, on National Mental Health Awareness Month. I have named this series Crucial Conversations because I believe it is essential that we create a dialogue among the faithful about the many issues we confront in this new century, which is just a quarter old yet resonates with stupendous change, momentous challenge, and tremendous complexity. More importantly, we need to have crucial conversations a

Over this six-part series, we have been following this loose band of believers from the early hours after the resurrection of Jesus. So far, we have observed them as being gripped by fear, uncertainty and doubt; they are still coping with the death of Christ and don’t quite know what to make of reports of his resurrection. Some believed, others did not believe as quickly. Some locked themselves behind closed doors, in fear of the Jews (John 20:19-31). Others coped by going fi

In Book Notes: Stories From American History, H.W. Brands, Professor of History, Texas A&M reflects on how, in the 1890s, America had a definite sense that something important was ending and something far greater was beginning. America had just celebrated its one hundredth anniversary and there was, writes, Brands, a feeling that the frontier phase of American history was ending. “The frontier had vanished, so Americans had this notion that they were running up against the en

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