Being A Christian Doesn’t Make You Spotless, But A Perfect Vessel For God To Fill

It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years since I first stepped foot on the stage of BET’s Sunday Best Season 2. It seems like yesterday when I received the call that I made it through the auditions and was on my way to Atlanta to compete nationally.  As I look at how far I’ve come, and how different I am now from the girl that stood on that stage, it reminds me just how long it’s been and how much I’ve grown in my music ministry and...

Read More

God’s Sanctuary: The Substance and the Shadow

To confound Beijing with Paris, or Bogota with Tokyo would appear bizarre to most people; after all, the differences in location and style set them far apart. Nevertheless, when it comes to Christian experiences such mistakes may occur without raising too many eyebrows. It is generally accepted that the first rule of orientation is to know where we are in relation to a known location—the North Pole being generally the point of reference. If...

Read More

The Power of the Holy Spirit

World-renowned gospel singer of the early 20th century, Mahalia Jackson once said, “The mind and the voice by themselves are not sufficient.” For a woman known as “The Queen of Gospel” who spent her life building one of the greatest musical legacies of all time by the power of her voice, this is a massive statement. Rather than being hypocritical, Jackson’s statement reveals the heart behind her music: a heart devoted to and reliant upon...

Read More

On Attitudes

There are elements of our personality that have the power to make us or destroy us. They can cause us to ascend to awesome heights or descend into the depths of misery. I am referring to our attitudes. Every member of the human race has them, yet we are often unaware of the influence they have on the formation of our character. What is an attitude? An attitude is a mental position one takes in relation to someone or something. The mental...

Read More

Correct Protocol

The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “protocol” as “a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations.” When meeting any high ranking dignitary there is an understood etiquette that needs to be learned and adopted or else there could be dire consequences. Correct Protocol: Meeting the Queen At London’s Buckingham Palace, should you be given the privilege of...

Read More

Learning Humility Through Disappointed Expectations

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:3-7) For the...

Read More

Desiring Change

And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion. But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that...

Read More

How to Love a Friend Who is Struggling with Their Faith

Recently, I have watched one of my closest friends struggle to hold on to her faith. As a result of family conflicts, school stress, medical problems and more, she says she has lost the ability to feel God’s joy and peace. I hear her hurting and I’ve seen her cry, but what can I do? Pray I have learned that the most important thing to do before I ever approach my friend is to pray. When I pray, I ask God to soften my heart towards her,...

Read More

Keep the Leash On: Loving Obedience

Walking my neighbor’s dog is such a pleasure! She’s a good dog, and usually we enjoy spending an uneventful time together. One day I was surprised when she was particularly resistant to going in the direction I wanted to go. While she was pulling and I was encouraging her to go my way, she suddenly slipped her collar. About the time I realized it, I saw understanding dawn in her eyes too. Then she was off at a run. My first thought was oh...

Read More

Why is it so hard to speak up?

Recently I was caught up in the dilemma of knowing that someone had cheated during a final exam, and not knowing what to do about it. Why is it so hard to speak up? In general, I shudder at the thought of being labeled a “tattle tale.” As a kid my favorite phrase was, “but that’s not fair!” and, over the years, I saw how those words created distance between me and my family and friends. Recently I have drifted in the opposite direction,...

Read More

Facing Temptation

All of us face temptation, in one way or another, practically every day. There’s really no point in being ashamed of it. After all, it’s not the temptation itself that is the sin, for even Jesus was tempted (Hebrews 4:15). We have a real Enemy who seeks to devour us (1 Peter 5:8), and while he’s not especially creative, recycling the same lies over and over  again, he is relentless. We should expect temptation and we shouldn’t feel bad...

Read More

For Everything There is a Season: Saying Goodbye

Because I grew up with a father in the military, most people would assume that saying goodbye is second nature to me—I even find myself assuming that sometimes. However, as the years go by, I’ve found that saying goodbye never really becomes any easier. If anything, you just get more used to it. Why is saying goodbye so hard? Saying goodbye is hard because it requires letting go—of friendships, of futures, of plans. When we’re no longer...

Read More