About Us
Love.
If I had to start someplace, and I guess I do, the most
egregious problem with today’s black church is its lack of love.
The lack of love is the first and most obvious sign that a
person does not know Jesus Christ. And I don't care if that
person’s title is “bishop” or “apostle” or the new, really
stupid one, “Pastor Apostle.” Paul said, “...but [without] love,
I am nothing...” [I Cor 13:2]. Without love, we are powerless.
Without love, we are defeated. Without love, we are in bondage.
Pettiness is bondage. Childishness is bondage. Impatience,
beloved, is bondage. I am constantly perplexed by how mean we
are. My goodness, Church Folk are some nasty people. Far too
many African American churches are grim halls of judgment run by
petty dictators. Places of strife and envy, competition and
exclusion, pettiness and divisiveness. The dynamics of these
places are so antithetical to the ministry and personal example
of Jesus Christ that I can hardly qualify them as churches. Even
scarier, no one seems to notice.
These
places typically exist in some insular time warp where it is
perpetually 1965 and function more like Elks clubs or, perhaps,
witches’ covens than the way churches were intended to function.
Most Church Folk do not even realize how out of joint their
worship experience is because they do not know the bible.
Unbiblical concepts and behavior seem reasonable to them, and my
preaching seems extreme and ultra-conservative. Rolling your
eyes and sucking your teeth seems reasonable. Tearing someone
down behind their back seems reasonable. Scheming to get that
position at church or, worse, to freeze somebody else out of it
seems reasonable. Cussing, drugs, alcohol—reasonable. Sexual
impurity of all kinds—reasonable. Revenge—reasonable.
Hatred—reasonable. Because you don’t know the bible. Or, even
sadder, you don’t believe the bible.
CONTINUES BELOW
Just as Peter’s mission was to preach to the Good News to the
Jews—
God’s people—God has purposed us to preach not only to the
unsaved but also to God’s people—Church Folk. To call to their
notice that we have gone astray of the purpose of the church as
modeled in God’s word, That we have allowed tradition to become
our stumbling block, an inoperable tumor on the beating heart of
the Body of Christ. That our legalism, materialism, pettiness,
and lack of love robs us of both our dignity and Christian
privilege. That our leaders have epically failed us and their
failure has become part of our cultural DNA.
The church, if it is to call itself a church, should look like
Jesus. Should be palaces of peace, a refuge from a cruel and
dying world.
The purpose of this ministry is to examine who we are and what
we do and contrast that behavior with what should be our common
frame of reference—God’s Holy Word. We pray something here, in
this online community, will help open our eyes to the truth.
And, having seen that truth, to share it in our churches, in our
homes, on our jobs, in our schools. That we might become free
from the hateful perversion of legalism and religion, and
finally embrace our liberty and strength in Christ Jesus.
Christopher J. Priest,
Editor
Christopher
J. Priest, 48, is a critically acclaimed novelist and comic book
writer. Priest is the first African-American writer and editor to work
in the comic book industry. His groundbreaking
Black Panther series was lauded by Entertainment Weekly and The
Village Voice. Static Shock, which Priest co-created with
Milestone Media, Inc., has become the first nationally syndicated
African American super-hero animated series, and the first act of 2005's
Batman Begins was largely based upon Priest's Batman comic book
work. Priest has also written and recorded numerous songs and served as
producer and sideman for various bands and choirs, and has developed
numerous properties for Hollywood including projects with BET President
Reginald Hudlin, Hamm & Kitchens, Inc., Edward R. Pressman Productions
Inc. and Eddie Murphy Productions. He currently serves as a Baptist
minister in Colorado Springs, where he founded PraiseNet eMedia in 2002.
Priest is a 4-time American Advertising Federation Addy®
award winner for graphic and web design. His most current work is the
hit series
Captain America & The Falcon from Marvel Entertainment, and a trio
of
novels from iBooks/Simon & Schuster. Click
here for booking information. Please do not call him “Chris.”
PraiseNet.Org
Christopher J. Priest Editor
Pastor
New Tribe Community
Neil M. Brown Associate Editor
Dr. Henry F. Johnson Associate
Editor
Joy O. Banks, MaCC Contributing
Editor
Sherrea Elliott Contributing
Editor
Bishop L.A. Wilkerson
Agape Family of Churches, Austin TX
Pastor Promise Lee Relevant Word
Ministries
Pastor John Moore, Sr Whosoever Will
CC
Pastor Cleveland A. Thompson, MaCM
Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor Charles L. Gill, Jr.
Pilgrim
Baptist Church, St. Paul MN
Pastor Eric C. Mason
New Tribe Community
Pastor Roland P. Joyner
New Covenant COGIC
Pastor Larry L. Broxton
Christ
Memorial, Savannah GA
Pastor Alvin Chu eCommunity For
Christ
Advisors
Mission
We exist for mission. We must decide
together why God has drawn us to each other.
We must live out that cause and live it like
our lives depend upon it. Who are we called
to reach? What are we called to do? How can
we return our community to the dream of God,
the perfect plan for the people he made?
This is the mission we must be on. It isn’t
a statement, it isn’t a slogan, or a
program, or a ministry. It is our mission
and God is the powerful gust that will
propel us and drive us as we listen daily to
his stirring within us..
Our Context: The Love of Jesus Christ.
The scriptures are filled with it. We can’t
live without it. It quenches our thirst and
cleanses us. Water has for ages represented
life and restoration. For us, water means
love. It is the context that we will swim in
as we move forward to reach those far from
God. They will know us by our Love. Love is
not just a word, it is the context in which
we will do everything. No decision, no
activity, no conversation, no sacrifice will
be made with out first answering the
question of our context. Is this the loving
thing to do? Is this the cup of water for
the thirsty, the coat in the cold, the warm
meal for the hungry, the comfort for the
lonely, the healing for the hurt?
Eric C. Mason, Lead Pastor,
New Tribe Community
Mainline
During the war years someone coined the
phrase Jesus Is On The Mainline. Many of us
have sung this song and many of us continue
to sing this song and many of us find
comfort in this song without even knowing
what a “mainline” is or why Jesus is on it.
For many of us, Jesus has not only been on
this mainline but He has been on hold for
decades. My conviction is that if God be
God, then surely God knows what year this is
and His power, His dominion, is not limited
to The War Years. He is not regulated by
AT&T and He is not limited to some mainline,
but He inhabits the very breath in our lungs
and the pulse in our wrist and the keyboard
these words are typed upon. Which is not to
say that Jesus is not, in fact, on the
mainline— we're certain He is— but that if
God be God, He is not limited by or
restrained to our fond yesterday. Jesus,
therefore, is not only on the mainline but
is on the digital T1 line and the DSL line
and the cable network lines. Jesus is in the
satellites and in the fiber optic networks
and in the digital networks. We, as God's
people, must not limit or define His role
for Him. We must not be afraid of the now.
We serve a Now God.
My problem with the song is not that we're
singing it but that we don't mean it. That
we sing it by default, we sing it more out
of poor planning for Devotion than out of
any real ministerial intent. The song has
become the lazy devotional leader's default
selection of choice. The song has lost its
potency, its power— once a desperate and
poignant cry from an oppressed people, now
reduced to the status of a James Brown
sample we've heard too many times before.
Stripped of its meaning, devoid of its
power, it is now simply filler. This is a
song that needs to be retired until we learn
not only what it actually means but what it
actually cost our mothers and their mothers
to sing it. Until we can fully understand
the song, we need to do it the dignity of
not using it as filler.
As difficult as it may be for many of us, we
believe the Black Church in America must
come to terms with many of its ingrown
tendencies. We must reject the notion that
the Black Church must be poor. We must
reject the notion that the Black Church must
be undereducated. We must reject the notion
that the Black Church must be twenty years
behind the times. We must reject the notion
that the Black Church must be second-class
to the white churches in America.
Should we do away with our culture and our
traditions? Of course not! We should,
rather, strengthen those cultures,
traditions and convictions by bettering
ourselves and bettering our churches through
spiritual renewal, revival and investment,
education, financial planning and improved
communication. We must strive for excellence
in all things, and that striving must not be
allowed to be interpreted as a threat by
those who find safety and assurance in
tradition.
We treasure and cherish our tradition, but
as a Christian people, our safety and
assurance must be in Christ and not in
repetitive ritual. And, as Christians, we
must not see enemies everywhere we look, but
look with better eyes than that. Look with
spiritual eyes, with eyes that see the world
as it is and not the world of our mothers
and their mothers. As comforting a world as
that was, with Jesus being on this
particular main line and all, it is a world
that no longer exists. And we cannot
possibly be effective in the service of God
with our eyes transfixed upon a rear view
mirror.
Christopher J. Priest, Editor,
PraiseNet.Org
Channels
The Précis: Faith, Community, Hope.
In Color
Christian Culture in the African American
perspective, distributed to over 120,000
readers by the Colorado Springs Independent.
State Of The Black Union
Tavis Smiley's unforgettable gathering of
black leaders discussing the state of
affairs in African America. Cornell West,
Harry Belafonte, Al Sharpton, Louis
Farrakhan and more.
eStyle: Empowering Spiritual Thinking In
Young Lives
A progressive and engaging online ministry
to youth and young adults, containing
proactive essays, bible studies, media
reviews and more.
Holla! At Neil Brown
A collection of sermons and no-holds barred
essays from a long-time minister to youth
and young adults dealing with issues
confronting teens and young adults.
Keeping It Real With Dr. Henry Johnson
A collection of sermons and essays from the
late Reverend Dr. Henry F. Johnson, a
teacher and pastor and founding partner of
PraiseNet.Org.
Brace Yourself By Joy Banks
A collection of proactive, in-your-face
studies engaging women's issues by Christian
Counselor Joy O. Banks.
Boys And Girls: Straight Talk About Sex
An unflinching examination of issues of love
and sexuality confronting teens and young
adults.
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