Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 23, 1993, edition 1 / Page 9
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^tt)c charlotte ^ost 9 A THURSDAY September 16, 1993 Welcome The Holy Spirit Wedding Bells To Ring For Tramaine Wedding Bells: Tramaine Hawkins is getting married. But not as some of you may have thought to ex-husband Walter Hawkins. Instead, Hawkins has formally an nounced her engagement to Oakland educator Tommy Richardson. The wedding, which will be private, is be ing slated for an undisclosed location sometime before the end of the year. In the mean time, Hawkins is working on her seventh solo album next year on Columbia Records. ■TOHN ADAMS INSIGHTS Is the Holy Spirit welcome in our churches? We ask ourselves whether or not the Holy Spirit is welcome in our churches. The Holy Spirit has for quite some time been allowed to come to our churches under the umbrella of denomlnationalism. He is not given the liberty to func tion as He would like. From the pulpit to the pew, the Holy Spirit has been restricted. In preaching, sometimes the Holy Spirit has been mistaken for being present in the moan ing and groaning. He is often believed to be "on" the sister or brother who shouts and hoi lers the loudest. Charismatic circles or neo-pentecostal con gregatlons have been giving the Holy Spirit permission to function as tongue only. For the most part, cults do not treat the Holy Spirit as God We can or welcome welcome the ,, , third person the Holy of the Holy Spirit in Trinity. our church- gpirit is not es as well welcome in .V, our churches as in our then what is lives when He doing? We we are come the Holy willing to spirit in our be led by churches as ^ well as in our Him. lives when we are willing to be led by Him Romans 8:14 states "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," Individual denomlna tions may try to restrict the Holy Spirit to their basic church doctrine and forfeit be ing a son of God. Charismatic or neo-pentecostal congrega tions may insist on speaking in tongues but can reject being led by the Holy Spirit and still not be considered a son of God The Holy Spirit has always been the "dark side of the moon." Stanley M. Burgess writes, "In vChristlan theology He has been long ignored and His work largely unrecog . nized." The result has been that the very heart, plan and resources of God have been re jected by the church. For years ; ministers have preached with ; out His Instruction, anoint ing, grace and power. Today, because the Hoty Spirit is sel dom welcomed in our church es, we have sermons with say ings but not substance. We have empty churches, dead cold formalism of ritual and a host of defeated Christians sitting in churches on Sunday morning and yes even on Wed nesday nights. They are spirit ually bankrupt in their prayer life, praise and love relation ship with God as their Father. Thomas Arnold once wrote "He who does not know God the Holy Spirit cannot know God at all." No doubt the Holy Spirit, if He were truly wel come as God In our churches would be our helper, comfort er, counselor, intercessor, ad vocate, strengthener and standby. He would change us and our churches to know the will of God for our lives. Why not say today "Holy Spirit you are welcome, your ministry we receive." The Voice Is Back: For nearly three decades, she was the voice behind the success of the Staple Singers, who racked up a steady stream of hits in the '70’s including "Respect Yourself and "I'll Take You There," but went bankrupt with the onslaught of disco. In 1987, she went solo, hooking up with Prince and signing to his Paisley Park record label. Today, Staples is 54 years old. As hard as it is to believe, it's true. And while times have changed. Mavis retains a great deal of popularity. Something that became most evident as she thrilled crowds across the country when she guested on Bebe & Cece's tour in their remake of rU Take You There." But Ma vis is not living in the past. She has just released her sec ond album, "The Voide." Yet while Staples is singing solo these days, it's not by choice. Says Staples, "the group is still together and whenever they get a gig, I go. It's just that no one would sign my family." That, she attributes to their ages. It was her fa ther who urged her to go out on her own, admonishing "God gave you a gift and if you don't use it, he'll take it back." In April of 1987, she got call from Prince's man- TRAMAINE ager. They were doing a dus- tles concert in LA. "I got a call and they said Prince wants to come meet you." For Staples, Prince was a god send. But since shesigned with Prince, many in gospel were concerned with the di rection she had taken. An earlier release, 'Time Waits For No One" got her in hot water with gospel fans. Her second album, "The Voice," is just out. Just one listen to it with its strong, powerful message songs remove all doubts as to her direction. 'The Voice is the Lord," she told one young fan. "The song is about a warning. Y'all bet ter get your house in order, because the end may be com ing soon so straighten up and fly right. Cause that's the voice tapping on your win dow like a falling rain and it's going to keep on until you give up and give in to righ teousness." Not surprisingly for Mavis, music is still a family affair. "Pops called one day," Staples reports, "and he said Mavis do you think your dad will play his guitar on your song,' I sid of course." In fact. Pops Staples is featured both musically and vocally on two of the se lections. Briefly: One of the summer's biggest hits at Christian bookstores throughout the country is the new "African Heritage Bible." Check it out... This weeks' scripture: SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON God's Response To Mankind’s Sin Lesson Background After hearing the confes sions of Adam and Eve, God confronted the serpent. A curse was placed upon the serpent so that henceforth it would make its way by slith ering across the ground on its belly. God stated that there would be continuing enmity between Satan and the human family, and that Anally Satan would suffer a crushing defeat by one who would arise from among the seed of the woman. A second curse was pro nounced upon the ground. God announced that thorns and thistles would prolife rate and make man's tilling of the ground a burden. With difficulty Adam and his off spring must gain the necessi ties of life, and it will be thus until man returns to the ground from which he was taken. The curses having been pronounced, it was time for God's action. Adam and Eve did not be come equal with God, as Sa tan had implied, but they did get something from their ex perience: they gained knowl edge of good and evU. They should have known before that it was good to obey God and evil to disobey Him, but after their sin they know by experience. For the first time they knew the feeling of shame and fear. They Imew that were sinners. Satan constantly urges to know evil by experience. "Don't knock it till you've tried it," he says. Surely It Is not necessary for Christians today to experiment with al cohol or Allcit drugs, when the harmful effects of such practice is clearly seen in our society. The dangers asso ciated with promiscuous sex are well documented. Must one engage in such activity to understand the evil affect that it produces in one's body, mind, and spirit? Since man had disobeyed God, God might have struck him dead on the spot. God could have made the fruit of the tree of life poisonous and death-dealing. What should He do? God announced His deci sion. The first step He took was to drive man our of the garden. The lovely surround ings that man had enjoyed at flrst were no longer to be his home. At the same time his physical labor was to become more difficult. Now he would have to live by the sweat of his brow. Some time after our flrst parents were driven from Eden (we are not told how long), two sons, Cain and Abel, were bom to them. In time both offered sacrific es to God. Because Abel's sac rifice was acceptable to God and Cain's was not, Cain be came filled with envy toward his brother. In spite of God's warning of the danger of sin that was before him, Cain permitted his emy and ha tred to control him, and he murdered his brother. As a result, he was condemned to leave the productive land he had tilled and become a wan derer in areas where the earth would not readily jdeld her fruits for his labor. After Cain murdered Abel, Adam and Eve had other children, sons and daugh ters. It must have been one of the latter who became the wife of Cain. The descen dants of Cain multiplied. "Blessed is the man who perseveres un der trial, because when he has stood the test, he will re- cehre the crown of life that God has prom ised to those who love him," -James 1:13. 4. ' . ■fhni*- '■ I''' " STAPLES Warning To Those Who Turn Back, II Some were inclined to city life, other to that of nomads. Some developed musical tal ents, others became skilled workers In bronze and iron. But it seems that the civiliza tion developed by the descen dants of Cain became In creasingly wicked and depraved. God blessed Adam and Eve with a son to replace Abel, and they named him Seth. When, in turn, a son was bom to him, "then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." This suggests that the descendants of Seth did worship God. Even so, as mankind began to multiply, ungodliness and wickedness increased upon the earth. Most Bible students under stand "the sons of God" to be the descendants of Seth, who had maintained the worship of God, and "the daughters of men" to be the godless races around them, of whom the line of Cain may have been the chief representative. When those of Seth's family began to intermarry with the heathen population, the salt of society lost its savor, and the total corruption of man kind ensued. God saw. The moral depravity of the age did not go uimotlced. The heart of men and women are always an open book to God. Man's wickedness was so pervasive that every imagin ation of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu ally. God was heartbroken over man's all-pervasive sinful condition. In language that man can understand, the au thor says it repeated the Lord that he had made man. Man Is like k grasshop per; he sings all summer and when winter comes he perishes. My friend, sum mer is almost ended and you are not saved. Just think! A fit subject for hell and you think you are be ing mistreated, the just treatment, and fair treat ment udilch yoiu: deserve is the bottomless pit of Hell! : If you had your rlghts you'd :: be in Hell. Most souls will never know the folly of flghting Almighty Sove- reighnty until you lie In the dust. God has given you space to repent and you are complaining about being mistreated. What a trage dy! Dear soul, your so- called good times will soon be over. You are closer to eternity then you were a year: ago; Walking on the- brink of Hell and com plaining about being mis treated. You don't see your need for the mercy of God. If you did, you'd be crying for mercy day and night; I'Oh; God be merciful to me the sinner I am." You've never seen yourself as a lost sinner, dear soul, you'll see it here though or in Hell. 1 tell you some thing else, now get it all of you, you are going to ac knowledge that I'm teach ing the truth before 3TOU are saved. ni stake my hope of Heaven on that one: eternal truth. You are going to see these truths here or in Hell! I know I am teaching the truth and you will to,o when the Holy Spirit opens your old;: wicked, deceived heart, if He ever does open it here in time. If He doesn't open it here, you are goiag to HeU. You ca:^ ^ go on like you are going.f I i you do youll bust Hell wldi \ open. \ \ Dear soul, as nothing and foolish you think these commentaries are, at the judgment you are going to follow you;: not only for the remainder of this life, but throughout eternity. Even in Hell you'll face it, dear heart. The Lord says go af ter them, young Timothy, My heart sinks within me to think of the tragedy you poor souls face. Oh, dear soul, you don’t know what lies ahead for you. You are drifting out the judgment! The only Hope is Christ. When 1 was under Holy Spirit Conviction, I knew the Holy Spirit was only dealing with a few. I was so afraid He would leave me. I knew that if the Holy Spirit left me 1 was gone with no hope. If the Holy Spirit leaves you, my friend, you are gone. I was scared to death; Afraid to go to sleep at night; afraid of being hit by a car. Oh, dear soul, think on these things. Why do you think God continues to let His servants hammer on your heart week after week? One day, dear soul,! G^ is going to tell the Holy. Spirit to shut the door,'. Where will you be? When the world's on Are, don't you want Christ's bos-; om to lay your head on? Now is the day of salvation. There is a temporary hap piness in the world, believ ing a lie and being damned! 'What is our hope? My Hope- is Christ. ' Paid Advertisement ByJ.M.Uttle
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 23, 1993, edition 1
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