Brother Preacher

Before I give a brief recap, I’d like to start with two confessions:

1.  I watch BET once (maybe twice) a year.  All other times, it’s pretty much irrelevant. 

2.  I can’t sing a lick, but I think I know good singing when I hear it. 

 Overall, the show was pretty amazing.  You can’t go wrong w/ Donnie and Yolanda cuts.  I was impressed by some people and not so impressed by others.  One thing that really stuck out for me was what I’d like to call the “anointing demarcation”.  Some folks had it.  Some folks didn’t. 

For the sake of time, I’ll give you my top three:

3.  Duward Davis “Victory Chant”

When I heard him I thought, “Praise and Worship leader written all over him”.  Come to find out: surprise, surprise he was the P&W leader at a church that a close friend of mine attended some years back.  Buddy seamlessly sang this song and it was very obvious he internalized what he was singing.  I always look to see if the artist/pastor has done this before they sing/preach.  It was apparent that Duward had done so.  Like he mentioned in his bio before the song, this is his ministry.  An early favorite of mine.

2.  LeAndria Johnson “In the Midst of It All”

My God!!!!  I remember when that sista came up in the try outs in some flip flops.  She had a compelling story and I was curious whether her voice would match her experience.  When you’ve gone through that much you can’t help but to praise God with your entire being.  Not only did she sing my favorite Yolanda Adams song, she had me up in my crib speaking in tongues.  I measure this stuff on a “chills scale” from 1-10 (1 being the lowest).   Did this performance give you chills?  I know it did for me.  I’d give it a 9 on the chills scale, only because I think she’s going to get better each week.  I was truly blessed by her performance. 

1.  Elder Goldwire McClendon “The Battle is the Lord’s”

Where I grew up, deacons would often stand up and do a brief devotional prior to service (in true Baptist form).  As a kid, I thought it was interesting because sometimes they didn’t even say words.  There was just a moan from the depths of their souls.  Now some deacons did it for show, but there were others who you know had “it”.  Elder McClendon has “it”.  I’d go a bit further and say that I saw a little Rance Allen at the end of the performance when he hit ‘em with a nice little run to take it over the top.   When I tell you I felt the Holy Spirit during his performance….Oh weeee!  79 years of experiencing God coming through each and every day, it’s no wonder the Elder could proclaim that the battle was the Lord’s with such passion and conviction.  This is why it’s so easy to distinguish the people who are there for a contract/car/show and those who are there to minister to the people of God!

Who was your favorite?  Why?  Who was your least favorite?  Why?  Share your thoughts.

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When I was single I could care less what kind of health insurance I had.  It really wasn’t a big deal.  Most of my injuries were basketball related and I could tough them out (unless something was broken).  After I got married, that all changed.  Things got more serious when we found out we were pregnant.  That meant she had to go to the doctor regularly.  I had a fleeting thought of going old school and taking care of everything “in-house”.  Very fleeting.  Who could blame me though?  This was my baby.  My flesh and blood.  I didn’t want a random doctor dealing with this.  Enter the dreaded HMO.  We decided to give it a shot.  The HMO provider shall remain nameless to protect its identity, but we heard good things about it. 

Put Off

Our first visit everything went great.  We got in, got our ultrasound, I saw little Johnny, got a nice little sonogram picture, and I was amped.  Things started to go south from there. We got there for our second visit and saw a different doctor.  Hold up, where’s Dr. X?  Oh, we split patients between us…so I’ll be seeing you today.  For real lady?  On top of that, this heifer lady walked in the room and spoke only to my wife.  She said nothing to me.  Excuse me!  Husband is present.  There are 24 million kids that go to bed every night without a father around.  I’m not one of them.  Strike #1.

My wife’s next visit almost made me call somebody and tell them about themselves.  I really thought she was describing a cattle herding procedure the way she described her visit.  I was unable to attend so I asked her how it went.  They ushered her in and out faster than you can say the word, “baby”.  She got to ask no questions and was in and out in ten minutes.  Tops.  The doctor didn’t ask her very many questions about how she was doing.  She told me she left that place feeling disgusted.  Strike #2.

Enter Daddy Richards

So I did what any concerned father-to-be would do.  I didn’t need a third strike.  George W. Bush (probably the last time I quote him…ever) said it best:

There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — [pauses] – shame on you. Fool me — You can’t get fooled again.

I started looking for other alternatives.  Our next visit to the HMO provider was supposed to be today.  Thankfully (and I know this is God), we were able to switch to my job’s PPO before then and…choose our own doctor.  My wife will tell you that I research everything.  TV’s, hotels, vacation spots.  I’m a habitual researcher.  Finding a great doctor was like looking for a five-star hotel/vacation spot for me.  It was fun.  And I believe I found one!  Great reviews by patients.    Highly recommended.  Accessible via email.  UC-Irvine grad.  Past president of the Association of Black Women’s Physicians.  Whoop whoop!  In fact, the hospital she uses is right around the corner from our residence (as opposed to the 20 minute trip to the HMO facility).  I think I’ve done my due diligence on this one.  We’ll see.

Update: My wife loves her.  Mission accomplished!  Brownie points earned.

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Every husband believes that they have the greatest wife in the world.  Well most of us do.  And justifiably so.  Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have married that person.  I am no exception.   I, too, believe that I have married the greatest woman that God has to offer.  Admittedly, there is a “touch” of bias in each man’s declaration of this fact.  Honestly, there was a day when I didn’t feel like I’d ever find anyone I was comfortable marrying for the rest of my life.  I was frustratingly single and I hated it.  Every Valentine’s Day I hated when folks would tell me that Jesus was my Valentine.  That sounded really super spiritual and all.  It focused on the “verticalness” (yes, I made that word up) of our relationship with the One who called us out of darkness into the marvelous light, but God also created us for horizontal relationships with others.  As much as we talk about the commercialism of Valentine’s Day, the fact still remains that human relationships are very important.  So I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Jesus is your Valentine.  I will tell you, however, that there is no need to sell yourself short on this day just because no one has bought you anything or sent you something special. My wife said something very profound this morning while preaching.  When she talked about love and relationships she said, “Don’t get so caught up in the icing that you don’t realize that you are eating stale cake.”  My, my, my.  I wonder how many folks ate some stale cake today.  Beautifully adorned flowers, teddy bears, hallmark cards (icing) surround stale cake (no substance in the relationship).

Sheridan and I attended a beautiful wedding yesterday.  It served as a reminder of the importance of the covenant of marriage.  Despite all the statistics, all the affairs, all the broken relationships, we are determined to prove that there are great marriages out there.  We want to give hope to those who think “marriage is for the birds” or “there is no such thing as a good marriage”.  The Devil is a liar (and the father of lies).  The first thing that the enemy attacked in the Bible was the institution of marriage.  It wasn’t the Church, it wasn’t a pastor, and it wasn’t the Word of God.  It was a relationship between a man and a woman.  The deceit came in the form of a question and ended in a broken relationship (See Genesis 3).  Questions arise every day in marriages/relationships.  Do I still love this person?  Why has he/she changed so much?  What happened to him/her?  This is precisely the enemy’s plan.

On this Valentine’s Day, I want to encourage everyone out there…both single and married.  Don’t allow the enemy to question what God has ordained for your life.  Continue to walk in what He has purposed for you.  Continue to pursue the vision that God has given you.  Married folks, remember your wedding day and the reasons you married that person.  People change, but love doesn’t!  Even in all of those changes, love is the factor that keeps things in perspective.  If God suffered humiliation (and even death) for the sake of love (John 3:16), why can’t we make sacrifices for the ones we love? Divorce is always the easy out.  Hands are clean.  There’s a chance to start over.  But nobody ever said love was easy.  Love is work, but it is worth it.  I love my wife dearly.  I truly believe she is the greatest woman on the earth.  Even when we have “heated fellowship”, even when we agree to  disagree…the fact remains that our love transcends all those peripheral issues.  We celebrate this day just like any other couple.  She bought me a few suits to keep me looking good and I got her a nice pregnancy message from spa.  But we live every day loving each other with eternity in mind.  That means we set aside temporal things/issues and focus on the eternal purpose we are called to: a beautiful, God-centered marriage.  I say all this to say that I am a very blessed man.  ”Who can find a virtuous woman?” (Proverbs 31:1)  ME!!!!!!!!  I love you babes.  Thank you for being you and loving me in spite of me.

Blessings,

Brother John

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