http://www.theoharlottepost.com
5B
®f)c charlotte
RELIGION
THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2006
Life 1B
Called to
help the
weak
There are doctrinal essen-
^, tials in the Christian faith.
The inspiration and aulhority
>/ of Scripture, Jesus’ virgin
birth, His vicarious death, His
^orious resurrection, and His
• second comity are non-nego-
t’’tiables. Tb this hst could be
added a number of other Bible
doctrines.
On the other hand, there are
a variety of opinions held by
both individual believers and
various Christian groups that
do_not. relate to matters of
fai^. 'The problerh is that we
sometirhfts elevate opinions to
the status of essential doc
trine. Hie Pharisees did this
with their traditions and wore
condemned by Christ for
doing so (Mark 7:5-7). Lest we
fall into the same trap, we
must always be careful to dis
tinguish between nonessen
tials and essentials.
All should be done in love. If
an individual has trusted in
Christ as Savior, that person
is my brother or sister in
Christ. We may not agree on
everything, but we must treat
each other with courtesy,
kindness, and love.
LESSON BACKGROUND
During these times, the
Greeks and Romans were
polytheistic (worshiping many
gods) and polydemonistic
(believing in many evil spir
its). They beheved that evil
spirits would try to invade
human beings by attaching
themselves to food before it
was eaten, and that the spirits
could be removed only by the
food being sacrificed to a god.
The sacrifice was meant not
only to gain favor with the
god, but also to cleanse the
meat fium demonic contami
nation. Such decontaminated
meat was offered to the gods
as a sacrifice. That which was
not biimed on the altar was
served at wicked pagan feasts.
What was left was sold in the
market.
After conversion, believers
resented eating such food
box^ht out of idol markets,
because it reminded sensitive
Gentile believers of their pre
vious pagan lives and the
demonic worship. Paul and
mature believers knew better
than to be bothered by such
food offered ortce to idols and
then sold in the marketplace.
They knew the deities didn’t
exist and that evil spirits did
not contaminate the food. But
some of the weaker believers
struggled with this and
brou^t it to Paul’s attention
and he addressed the issue.
Possessing Knowledge
1. What questions did the
church have concerning
“things offered unto idols” (1
Cor. 8:1)?
In last week’s lesson, Paul
had began to answer practical
questions written to bim by
the Corinthians with the first
question referencing mar
riage. In this week’s lesson,
Paul deals witii anotho- con
cern raised by the Corinthians
Please see CALLED/7B
PHOTO/ARCHIDOSE.ORG
Activists say that megachurches are about Bentleys and bling, rather titan the social issues that the black
church has always stood for.
Black activists blast megachurches
for ignoring self-help and justice
Criticism erupts during conference of prominent ministers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS—Prominent black lead
ers have denounced increasingly
popular megachurches, saying many
have abandoned Jesus’ emphasis on
social justice to preach a gospel of
wealth and self-help.
“The message of many chxirches
has been co-opted by American capi-
tahsm,” said the Rev. Frederick
Haynes IH of the Friendship-West
Baptist Chiuoh in South Dallas. “A
megachurch should not just be
known for the traffic jam it creates
on Simday but for doing something
more in the commtmity”
The criticism came at a summit of
about 100 black ministers—indud-
ing the Revs. Joseph
Lowery A1 Sharpton,
Jesse Jackson and
scholar Cornel West-
held this week at
Haynes’ church.
Several popular
black megachurch
leaders and televange
lists, such as Bishop T.D. Jakes in
Dallas and the Rev. C^reflo Dollar of
Georgia, openly back President
Bush. They preach to stadium-sized
congregations that worshippers
Jakes
receive health and prosperity
through their faith—a belief system
led Word of Faith,
said Lawrence
^ Mamiya, professor of
Afiicana
studio at Vassar Col-
lege. Leaders often
speak proudly of their
Dollar wealth and suc
cess, he said.
Jakes, who claims 30,000 church
goers, said in a written response
Wednesday that his church. The Pot
ter’s House, and his ministries give
Please see BLACK/6B
South Carolinian takes over as AME ieader
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON, S.C. -
Bishop Preston Warren
Williams IE plans to strength
en ties among the Afiican
Methodist Episcopal churches
and help the poor dtaring his
yearlong term as the denomi
nation’s highest-ranking
leader.
At a gathering attended by
more than 3,000 people Mon
day night, Wlhams became
president of., the AME
Church’s global council of
bishops. The South Carolin
ian is tile church’s 119th bish
op.
Before he received the cere
monial medaUion marking his
post, Williams discussed his
plans.
“The main issues are what
we read about every day,”
Williams said. “It’s hunger. It’s
disease. It’s children without
parents.”
Williams, 67, wants to cre
ate a program where churches
give food to needy children
when school is out.
He also wants to strengthen
the AME Church’s ties to dis
tricts in Afirica, where he
served as a bishop before tak
ing over tile South Carolina
district.
‘We were able to add to the
church over 150,000 souls,”
TOUiams said of his time as
Central Afiica’s bishop. “We
have made a difference in
Afiica.”
Williams’ new post reflects
the importance of South Car
olina to the AME Church, The
church’s South Carolina dis
trict is the second-largest in
the world, behind the 1st
Episcopal District, which cov
ers the northeast United
Charleston is' the church’s
birthplace in the South. 'The
AME Church, founded by firee
blacks in Philadelphia in
1793, has grown to approxi
mately 3 million members
worldwide, with about
300,000 of them in South Car
olina.
People who have worked
Please see SOUTH/6B
Senator: Democrats should take faith seriosly
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON-Sen.
Barack Obama is warning
fellow Democrats they must
take religion seriously, deliv
ering a highly personal
speech that noted his own
religious awakening and how
his father died an atheist and
his mother a skeptic about
organized worship.
The Illinois lawmaker
recounted before an audience
of church and lay leaders at
National City Christian
Churxjh how it was not until
after he graduated fiom col
lege and became a communi
ty organizer in Chicago that
he confixmted his “spiritual
dilemma ”
“The Christians who I
would work with, they recog
nized themselves in me; they
saw that I knew their Book
and shared their values and
sang their sor^. But they
sensed a part of me that
remained detached and
removed, that I was an
observer in their midst,”
Obama said.
“In time, I came to realize
that something was missii^
... that without a vessel for my
beliefs, that without a com-
mitment to a particular com
munity of faith, at some level
I Would always remain apart,
and alone,” he said.
Obama, now the Senate’s
only black member, said he
drew dosQ- to the church, in
part because he believed in
the power of the Afiican-
American religious tradition
to spur social chai^, and
also because he realized that
havir^ faith does not mean
that one does not have
doubts.
As a result of his newfound
imderstanding, he said he
eventually walked down the
aisle of Trinity United
Church of Christ and
affirmed his Christian faith.
‘Tt came about as a choice,
not an epiphany—I did not
fall out in church,” he said,
drawing a roar oflaughter.
Cbama cautioned against
Democratic or progressive
strategies that would avoid
conversations about religious
values altogether- He said
most Democrats have “taken
the bait” to avoid debating
such issues out of fear of
offending anyone.
“We first need to under
stand that Americans are a
religious people; 90 percent of
us believe in (3od ... and sub
stantially more people bdieve
Ki-Kia
chip off the
old vocal
block
Kierra “Ki-Ki” Sheard
This Is Me
Various producers
EMI Gospel
Kierra Sheard’s latest CD
could easily be titled*! Am My
Mother’s Child.”
Sheard, hke her mother
Karen Clarke-Sheard, has a
sledgehammer of a voice that
can beat her wdghty message
directly into your brain. She’s
rarely subtle and never bor-
it^, but needs to cuff herself
fix/m time to time.
There’s certainly nothing
subtle about “The Only One.”
Its booming bass drum and
disco handclaps can barely
out-power Sheard’s jazz riffs
and hip hop swaggering
vocals. This is gospel? In this
day and age, yes. The music is
high tech but the lyrics are
unabashedly gospel.
The same for “Yes.” Sheard
bulldozers this song into your
memory with those j azzy riffs
as the louder-than-necessary
music kicks you into the next
room.
She can turn thir^ down a
bit when needed. ‘Tt Is What
It Is” is the CD’s most likable
song. Its lyrics show Sheard is
firmly rooted in her faith.
There is no lukewarm - it’s
either heav^ or hdl without
compromises. She gets kudos
for that.
But too much of this CD
sounds like what you hear on
any urban station these days.
There’s nothing churchy or
reverent. That’s not a bad
thing becaxise this CD is
aimed at folks who may not
find the whole gospel thing
appealing. There’s nothing
here cleverly disguised but
the urban music tends to grab
you before the gospel lyrics.
Still, Sheard is part of a new
batch of gospel singers that
have to be dealt with. She’s
got the pipes (she is her moth
er’s child) and her song sdec-
tion is gettii^ better. But she
still needs one big song - a
churchy song - to show those
who don’t already know how
fine-tuned an instrument her
body houses.
in angels than do those who
believe in evolution,” Cbama
said-
For many of our problems to
be solved, it will require not
only changes in government
policy but also -changes in
hearts and minds, he said.
‘T believe in keeping guns
out of our inner cities, and
that our leaders must say so
in tile face of the gun manu
facturers’ lobby—but I also
believe that when a gang-
bar^r shoots indiscriminate
ly into a crowd because he
feels somebody disrespected
him, we have a problem of
morality, there’s a hole in that
young man’s heart—a role
that government programs
alone cannot fix.”
Cbama pointed out that
national denominations have
Please see OBAMA/7B
CItessiie;
iXis-piii-ii
Church News
The deadline for announcements in the calendar is
noon on Fridays. Fax to (704) 342-2160 or e-mail to
cherisJiodges@thecharlottepost.com.
July 14
University Park Baptist Church, 6029 Beat-
ties Ford Road, will host comic Jonathan
Slocumb at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $13 if pur
chased in advance and $15 at the door.
July 16
The 33rd Annual Women’s Day Celebration
will be at 4 p.m.
Guest speaker wOl be Minister Chris Whit
ley, First Lady of Mount Moriah Baptist
Church.
• Greater Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, located
at 1243 West Boulevard, will host its Youth
Revival with the theme: “A Child Shall Lead
Them...word on the street.”
Services Sunday begin at 6 p.m. and run
throi^h Wednesday with services beginning at
7 p.m. For information, call (704) 332-2163.
July 20
The CHCSEN Youth/Young Adult Depart
ment of the New St. Luke Holy Baptist Church
of God will host the NuNation Youth Convoca
tion. Thane: Generation X - Marked for
Greatness!! Times: July 21-22 at 7:45pm and
July 23 at Ham and 5:30pm. Location: 910
TOnchesto* Ave. Monroe. For more informa
tion call Prophet Lorenzo A. Moore at (704)
605-5112 or chuixh at (704) 218-3662
July 22
New St. Luke Holy Baptist Church of God
o«o
presents Unity in. Praise Community Festival,
910 Wnchester Ave. in Monroe. Clothes give
away, carnival games, food, music and fun for
the family Looking for step team, youth
choirs, gospel hip-hop artist, mime teams to
participate. Tb participate and for more infor
mation call Prophet Lorenzo Moore at (704)
605-5112
• United Baptist/March of Faith Ministry,
1115 Hawthorne Lane, will host the United
Please see CHINESE/6B
25?