Atlanta, GA (Akiit.com) - Black grand mothers have stayed on their knees praying and many parents died early worrying about their children. Black fathers faced violence, just trying to protect their daughters from thugs and a Black on Black hateful lifestyle. Where is respect for what Jesus died for in all of this? But then, if you have no respect for our ancestors, who suffered through slavery and segregation over the last 540 years, how could you be expected to have respect for what happened 2007 years ago on Calvary. How can being obscene and disrespectful to little children, sitting in front of televisions and listening to radios, be considered Jesus like. Not only are you worshiping Satan, You’re slaving.

Rappers, why have you declared war against the poor, the foolish and the young? Why have you declared war against Black America and the respect that our ancestors died for? We feed each other drugs and disrespect and then ask God to bless us. You cannot make all your deposits into the Bank of Satan and come to the Bank of God for withdrawals. You belong to whom you serve. Money and power does not make Godly success. Example: There was a very intelligent grammar school kid that was rotten, evil and a liar. He went through High School, made all A(s) and acquired much knowledge; but still, he was rotten, evil and a liar. He was considered a genius in college and eventually acquired great wealth; but still, he was rotten, evil and a liar. He is like the plant that never grew, despite the blessings that God gave. Righteousness, he had none. I feel that God waits for such plants to grow in righteousness, but at some point the wicked little plants run out of time. We as a race have got to show God that we are not the plant that would not grow. Without God, we cannot succeed beyond that which Satan has to offer. And it is true that we will reap what we sow. We will harvest what we plant. The real message and intent of many rap producers are to convince Black youth that “You don’t need God to make it.”

The United States of America also needs to call off its 540-year war against African Americans. 400 years of Slavery, 100 years of segregation and 40 years of less than equal treatment, that’s our history in America. How could any righteous person look at this picture and claim that there has ever been equality for all. I feel that God will one day Judge the plant called America and determine whether it grew at all. In the Bible, God makes it clear that oppression is wrong and not Godly. To practice oppression is to worship Satan. I feel that repenting and forgiveness are always possible; however, I strongly feel that God knows the lips of a liar.
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(Akitt.com) In Hollywood, faith is becoming more than something you discuss with your family and friends, it’s becoming an acceptable part of the entertainment environment. From celebrities talking about their beliefs to the release of blockbuster Christian films, faith is making an impact - a big impact.

Until recently, to hear God mentioned in a celebrity’s award acceptance speech was rare. Now, thanking God has become quite common, especially for black celebrities. Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson both thanked God when they won Oscars earlier this year.

In 2004, when Mel Gibson released “The Passion of the Christ,” Hollywood hadn’t completely accepted that a religious movie could draw audiences to the theatre. However, with the success of Gibson’s film and others following it, including T.D. Jakes’ “Woman Thou Art Loosed,” Hollywood has realized that Christians will spend on faith-centered entertainment.
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(Akiit.com) Ten years ago TBN, CBN and BET (Bobby Jones Gospel) dominated national Christian television programming. With the exception of limited programs airing on network TV, these channels were the primary choices for those looking for Christian TV shows.

But a lot has changed.

While these Christian networks are thriving and BET continues to draw huge audiences to its Gospel programs, including its annual Gospel Celebration show, two cable channels have carved a niche for themselves.

The Word Network has become the TV home of urban ministries. The 24-hour cable channel airs the Christian teachings of well and lesser-known pastors alike. TD Jakes, Paula White and Juanita Bynum have daily half hour shows on the network. In addition, a national audience has been introduced to pastors I.V. Hilliard, Zachary Tims and Michael A. Freeman, among others.

The Word Network, based in Southfield, Michigan, also fills programming hours with spirited Gospel specials such as concerts, Christian comedy and behind the scene shows.
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      (Akiit.com) This past weekend, I watched the film “Amazing Grace.” This marvelous film tells the story of the battle abolitionist William Wilberforce waged to end the slave trade in the British Empire.  While watching the film, I pondered the fact that our understanding of the origins of our liberty has changed very little since 1807.
 

      There is a great deal of discussion about the cruelty of slavery in the film.  During an especially poignant moment, a former slave, played by the musician Youssou N’Dour, opens his shirt displaying the brand burned into his chest when he reached the West Indies from Africa, a mark that in his words, let him know that he no longer belonged to God, but to men. This moment in the film is striking not because it affirms the cruelty of slavery.  Slavery was/is not evil because of its cruelty, but because it violates the natural state of man by reducing the divine to the profane. 
 

      It is the assertion of divine ownership that is the basis upon which we claim our liberty.  God made man free and independent. As free men, we must own our bodies, our ideas, and the fruits produced by same.  It is upon this concept that we properly define rights and upon this rock America was founded. 

 
      Rights are those things to which we claim by virtue of simply being human — by belonging to God – and are therefore things that cannot be granted by other men.  Hence the removal of chains is not the granting of freedom, but the return of liberty to its rightful owner.  Property taken from you doesn’t cease being yours simply because it is in another man’s possession.  And when it is returned, the thief grants you nothing but that which has always been yours. 
 

      Critical to our understanding is that rights also come with corresponding duties to respect the rights of others.  My neighbor has a duty to respect my right to life, liberty and private property and I have a duty to do the same.  Of course, men regularly violate that duty, which is why men compact with government to secure inalienable rights from the devilment of human nature.

 
      Sitting in the theatre, I wondered that here in America, the only nation built upon these principles, we have largely lost our understanding of rights and in fact diluted them so that increasingly they are indistinguishable from privileges, those advantages that government grants or denies certain groups that meet or fail to meet certain requirements. 

 
      For instance, we hear about our right to health care, social security and a host of other government, or more accurately, taxpayer funded entitlements.  If men are in fact born with these rights, there must be a corresponding duty that falls on our neighbors to provide it.  Does your neighbor have a duty to pay for your doctor’s visits and medical care?  Do your neighbors have a duty to pay for your retirement?  What about housing? Food and clothing?  One can argue that these are things God fearing neighbors ought to cheerfully do for one another. However, that is wholly different from politicians that want to use the power of government to force munificence.  The administrative state along with its corresponding schemes of wealth redistribution are wrong because the equal right to liberty means no man should be made to work for the benefit of another. Slavery practiced with kid gloves is slavery still.

 
      William Wilberforce gave his life fighting for the revolutionary idea that the equal right to life and liberty derives from the “laws of nature and of natures God”.  Alas, the idea seems as sour to our contemporary ears as it was to so many in the late 18th and early 19 th centuries. 

      By Joseph C. Phillips

Many congregations seek to remove pastors by the action of one or more of the boards of the church. Pastors respond by seeking a vote from the church body as a whole. The question becomes who is right in these cases?

There is a recent case in Chicago filed by Rev. Ruben Ervin versus Lilydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church.  Rev. Ervin filed this action against the church to obtain an injunction preventing his termination as pastor. The case is one that we see in many Baptist congregations throughout America. In this case, the church’s board members voted to remove Rev. Ervin from his position as pastor of Lilydale Progressive. The case was filed in court by the pastor on the basis that the board did not have authority to remove him without obtaining a vote from the church’s members as required by the church’s bylaws. 

The board responded that the employee handbook and the church covenant gauge the board power to remove the pastor. The judge in the lower court refused to interfere with the church’s ecclesiastical decision to terminate the pastor’s service and dismissed the case. Rev. Ervin appealed the lower court’s decision, which supported the board’s right to terminate him without a vote by the church members.

This case presents an issue that many of our churches face. We have bylaws that are inconsistent with the operational documents and practices used by the church.  Oftentimes, the officers of the church operate without authority provided by the membership. Many congregations have not reviewed their bylaws since the church began and are therefore unaware of its provisions. Most of our congregations do not have clear guidelines in our bylaws for removal of pastors, members, or other staff of the church. 

In this case of Rev. Ervin and Lilydale, the bylaws provide: “Upon recommendation by the joint boards of the church, the pastor’s service may be terminated by a vote of two-thirds of the members present and qualified to vote”. The joint board moved to declare the pulpit vacant at two separate meetings in 2002. In each instance less than two thirds of the congregation voted to remove the pastor. Then in 2003 the Joint Boards voted to dismiss Rev. Ervin without submitting the issue to a vote of the general membership of the church. Following the meeting, the joint boards sent Rev. Ervin a letter of termination.  Rev. Ervin returned to the church to conduct services Sunday morning whereupon the police were called to remove him from the pulpit. 

The issues in this case are not whether or not Rev. Ervin should be terminated for cause, but whether or not the Joint Boards could terminate without a church vote. The court reviewed the employee handbook and the church covenant and found that these documents did not provide a specific procedure for termination of an employee. The court found that the handbook only provided reasons for termination, not the process for removal as established in the by-laws. The courts recognize that Baptist churches and other congregational style churches have “congregational polity” that is as they are churches governed solely within themselves. The courts will not get involved in matters of religion and worship practices, but the courts will decide whether the proper authority was exercised

In a similar case in Michigan, Vincent v Raglin 114 Mich.App.242, 318 NW2d 629 (1981) the plaintiff pastor served a Baptist church for nearly twenty years. The board of trustees passed a resolution to terminate his service after issues arose between the pastor and the board. The pastor continued to conduct services after the board notified him of his termination. The trustees hired security guards who forcibly removed the pastor from the church. The pastor filed a lawsuit to obtain an injunction preventing his termination.  The Appellate Court of Michigan reviewed the church’s governing manual to determine whether the trustee’s dismissal was “the action of the church”. The manual made the dismissal of the pastor “the exclusive prerogative of the church membership”.

This means that churches must define in writing, bylaws or governing documents, the rules by which it retains the services of a pastor, the pulpit becomes vacant, members are removed, and officers are elected, selected and removed. The court will only review the rules that the church has put in place. What could have been done to avoid the cost of litigation and the negative feelings that result from the church going to court?

AVOID LITIGATION: GET YOUR (CHURCH) HOUSE IN ORDER

–Churches should review and update bylaws and personnel manuals annually

–The duties and authorities of boards should be clearly spelled out in the bylaws

–The bylaws should include procedures for termination and procedures for selecting pastors, officers, standing committees etc.

–Church bylaws should define roles and responsibilities of boards in the presence and in the absence of a pastor

–The structure, authority and guidelines for the pulpit committee should be clearly outlined in the bylaws

–Bylaws should include a process for conflict resolution and Christian mediation.

The Church bylaws are critical for every congregation. The by-laws should be signed by the leadership and ratified by the membership. Members should have copies of the current, dated bylaws. They should not be held secret documents by a few.

By Rev. Dr. Janette C. Wilson