Watch the New Year

I enjoy a good New Year’s Eve party like the next person, but this year I will be attending Watchnight Service at church.

The Chief Usher

I need to get my usher outfit right!

Saints and ain’ts I almost joined the church usher board because I thought it would help me reach my latest career goal – White House chief usher. This position was just calling to me. Obviously church would be the best practice spot.

Another PK rant

The PK struggle is real. I thought it got a little bit better once you're older, but folks keep doing things to irk me. Perhaps the problem is I don't call them out on it. I need to stop being passive and let them know how I feel. The main reason I don't really say anything when a person tries me is because I know I'm easily irritated and petty. It is my responsibility as a person with Irritable Personality Syndrome to not go off all the time. Honestly some of the things people say are jokes meant with no malice. But 30 plus years of the same bad jokes makes the hidden dragon come out.

I luh God but not today's gospel music

It's officially! I'm old. I was led to this conclusion after hearing "I luh God" by Erica Campbell for the first time. Actually in full disclosure, I did listen to the first 10 seconds a few months ago. I couldn't take it. Today I watched most of the music video. I hate the song. Like literally hate it. I remember joking with my friends a few weeks ago that Jesus did not die and rise again for us to sound like we're in the trap.

praise habit

These last few days were starting to look like Toni's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Week. I was in pain, lost my debit card and was told some concerning medical news. It was just getting to be too much for me, so I cried last night and went to bed.

I am happy to say today things are much better. Granted I'm still in pain, but not as bad as before. And I found my debit card. That was a huge weight off my shoulder considering I leave tomorrow for a cruise.

Sometimes I seem to forget that God is in control, and I just need to turn it all over to Him. Finding my debit card and my pain getting better reminded me of that fact. So right now I'm giving God praise for helping me through my situation. For some it might seem minor, but it's the little things.

But it's not simply enough to give Him praise when things get better or going well. A song I really like is "In the Middle" by Issac Carree. The chorus simply states, "Praise Him anyway. In the middle of it." "It" being anything good or bad you're experiencing.

One habit I am working one is praising God no matter the circumstance. Of course it's easier said then done. Bad as I was feeling lately, all I wanted to do was cry out to God for help, not praise Him. I am learning praise should be my first response especially when I'm going through.

Bible habits

Reading the entire Bible is a habit I have attempted several times now. I have yet to read all the way through. I always start off strong at the beginning of the year, but then somehow it gets pushed to the side. Each year my dad reads the Bible all the way through via a different translation. One day I'll get like him.

I blame the devil. Well mainly it's due to laziness and a lack of dedication on my part. Sure some of the books are a lot drier than others as far as reading goes (I'm looking at you Corinthians). That's no excuse to just stop and let the reading fall by the wayside.

This year, I am determined to finish reading the entire Bible. I'm going to do it! I just bought The Message Bible for my Kindle. I used to read this translation online, but I felt like I needed to actually own it. The Message Bible is one of my favorite translations because it is easy to comprehend. Sometimes the wording cracks me up, because it really brings a verse alive. King James is just not for me. New King James isn't much better.

 Today is the day I kickoff the reading, mainly because my plan is based on days not dates. I'm starting where I left off last year (Jeremiah). Once I finish, I am going to try a different Bible Reading plan. The one I have is just straight through. I am motivated to form this habit.

the call

One thing very important to me is my relationship with the Lord. Quite naturally I don’t take too kindly when someone mocks it. Such was the case the other day with a gentleman caller. I met him last Friday and a gas station. He was polite in his approach, so I gave him my number. Mistake one. Everyone who asks for your number doesn’t deserve it. Unfortunately I said in 2014 I would be less discriminating when it came to males. I graced him with the digits; despite the fact I could already tell he wasn’t my type. Sure he was attractive and didn’t sound like an idiot when speaking, but I still had the feeling I didn’t want to be bothered. I didn’t listen to that feeling. Mistake two.

Tell me your name

Is it bad I don’t know anyone’s name at church? I’ve been a member since January but still couldn’t tell you the names of half the people who attend. OK to be fair, there are quite a few people I do know, such as the youth, those who serve on the same ministries as me and several others. But that’s maybe 50 people. Hundreds attend the church. I always have to ask, “Who is that?” when someone mentions a name. There is only one possible solution to help my dilemma: name tags!

PK Q&A

Usually when I see a Facebook question I don’t respond with my two cents. I’ll observe without getting involved. But the other day I had to give my input when I saw this post from someone who attends my dad’s church:

the PK plight

Sometimes I feel like people assume because my dad is a pastor they can just recruit me for all things church related without advanced notice, proper preparation or training. They think I know how to do most things church-related. Sure I grew up in the church, but I wasn’t really involved in all the behind the scenes inner workings. I joined a church in January, and since then they have had me doing this that and the other.

Hymnology 101

The leader always has this handy when lining a hymn.

Growing up a preacher’s child exposed me to a lot of church traditions throughout my childhood, such as hymn lining. Unfortunately future generations might miss out on it. A few months ago I watched a video about hymn lining becoming a disappearing tradition. Hymn lining is a form of call and response and dates back to slavery times within the black church. Typically a leader sings, or lines, the verses of a hymn in a suggested tune and the congregation repeats in kind. The leader chooses from a variety of meters to line the hymn to, such as common, short and long. Thus lined hymns might be sung in a different tune from how one normally hears it.

this, that and the other

The other night I was perusing "Stuff Christians Like" by Jon Acuff and had a laugh fest for a good hour. It got me to thinking several question about this, that and the other regarding church and Christian life, such as:

Can you testify?

It's a new year which means Writing Wednesday is back in full effect. I promise to do so much better than last year which featured numerous bouts of disappearing (blame it on my chronic sickness). One of my goals for this year is to be healthier. That should translate to writing regularly and not owing the Writing Wednesday Pot. Also I plan on writing an additional post at least a few times a month not on Writing Wednesday.

For 2013 I decided to take it back to the Old School for my New Year's Eve celebration. Instead of partying it up I went to Watch Night Service at church. A watch night service is a late-night Christian Church service held on New Year's Eve. Watch night service is especially important to the black community because many slaves were said to have gathered in churches on New Year's Eve,in 1862 to await the Emancipation Proclamation being enacted on Jan. 1, 1863.

the ghost writer

Recently I was asked by one of my dad's friends to edit a Lenten devotional featuring writers from within their church association. Devotionals were due to me Nov. 11. Guess which writer has yet to turn one in. Yes, my own dear old dad. I've been bugging him about his devotionals for more than a month but to no avail. His excuse is being too busy. Yeah right. Just because you pastor a church, serve as moderator for a church association and as a vice president for the state convention doesn't mean you're busy. Well maybe just a little.

Praise and Worship Mix

My worship is for real.

Some days I like to have random praise sessions. One day it might be at midnight on a Thursday. On another day it’s at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday. The days and times vary but the songs usually are the same. I never know when a desire for a praise break might hit. When it does, I simply answer the call and start playing my praise and worship mix. I enjoy a good sermon at church, but at home it's just the music and me. Like a good sermon, the words of a song can speak to my heart and move me to tears from hearing about how good God is to me even when I don’t deserve it. Therefore I present to you my praise and worship mix. Play any of these songs when you want an intimate time praising and thanking the Lord.

Chronicles of Life ... random religious thoughts

Some people look for signs of Jesus’ existence in big booming miracles.
Not so for me. Give me the little things.
I have “Jesus is real” moments everyday.
Take for instance gas prices.
At one point gas was nearing $4 a gallon. It was costing a small fortune to fill up the Green Machine.
Monday gas was $2.16, and I filled up for $23. Jesus is real!
Then there was the time when I was starving and ready to eat a small child. I had no money and lunch was still a few hours off.
I went to my car to get a note pad, and voila, there was nearly $1 in change on the floor. Just enough money for me to head to the snack machine.
Yet another “Jesus is real” moment.
My all time favorite is when I see a fine looking specimen of a man. I’m talking about one who just bring tears to your eyes because of his beauty.
As Cee would say, “Jesus is real and there is a God.”
The Lord wakes me up each morning, but I tend to take that for granted. Having my “Jesus is Real” moments helps me remember to thank the Lord for every blessing, no matter how big or how small... Does anyone else think those e-mail and text message forwards about God are annoying? You know, the ones where it says send to 10 people if you love God.
Well I love God but I hate forwarding, so I usually don’t send them.
They always have some message at the bottom calling you out if you don’t join the e-mail/text chain.
No, I am not ashamed of God. I highly doubt I am blocking a financial blessing. And the little e-mail angel is definitely not watching over me.
Last I checked, my relationship with God was not dependent upon responding to modern technology. It’s a personal thing.
Send me your forwards and e-mails if you must, just know you won’t get one back from me... I think people say the phrase, “God knows my heart,” a little to loosely.
Even I used to throw it out without really thinking.
Then one day I realized God indeed knows my heart. He sees that evil streak inside.
Personally, that made me a little nervous. Here I am saying it all lightly and he could just zap me.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not saying it anymore... I have a serious problem. I am a sermon critic.
Maybe that’s why I’m not a member of any church.
Despite what my parents think, I don’t stay home out of laziness. I stay home because if I don’t like a sermon I can’t be bothered.
I think it’s my daddy’s fault.
I’ve been hearing his preaching for as long as I can remember and tend to critique others based on his style.
I can take bad singing. I can stand Sunday morning service chaos. However, I will not and can not tolerate a bad sermon.
I look for several things in a sermon including: were there points and illustrations, was it informative and entertaining and was it grammatically sound?
This year Cee and I set out on our “get right before you get left” weekly worship experience. That was a bust
It’s July and I’m still churchless.
We often said we wished my daddy had a church here. We definitely could get right then.
Nevertheless, I will continue on my search for a church home.
In the meantime I need to start getting taped copies of my daddy’s sermons... I am so glad God is patience and loving. I am not.
Once Cee was reading a few stories from the Bible. One told of how Sarah lied to the Lord.
She laughed and God asked her why did she do it, then Sarah had the nerve to say she didn’t.
Now if it had been me I would have just went, “Zap, your dead.”
You don’t lie to the Lord!
The Bible is filled with zap moments.
If left up to me, there wouldn’t be an old testament because Abraham, Moses and a few others would have been zapped
It’s a wonder we even have any people.
I know God probably gets fed up with us and wants to zapped everybody. But he doesn’t.
Thank God for grace and mercy.