Although I appreciate you sentiment, don’t bother to pray for me – God has already answered all of my prayers in advance when he blessed me with a mind. You see, God was a step ahead of us. He gave us the means to answer our own prayers – that is, if we have faith in his creation to use it.

You’ve made a lot of unwarranted assumptions here. I was raised as a christian:

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

“IF YE WERE ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN, YE WOULD DO THE WORKS OF ABRAHAM”
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Every since I wrote the column “Crabs in a Barrel,” the gross hypocrisy of South Carolina State Senator, Rev. Darrell Jackson, has lingered with me. In that column I describe how the Black, South Carolina State Senator, who was also the pastor of the 10,000 member, “Family Way Bible Life Center Church,” came out against Senator Barack Obama afer selling his support to Senator Hillary Clinton for $10,000 a month–a dollar amount that corresponded exactly with the number of members he had in his church. Now, as I drive through the Black community and see the magnificent “houses of God” towering over the community in the midst of poverty, social need, and in some cases, squalor all around them, I can’t help but wonder how many of them are really doing God’s work.
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When I look at those resplendent edifices, it takes me back to a little storefront church on a 108th and Juniper in Watts, where my grandmother first sent me for religious instruction–she was ill at the time, so she couldn’t take me to “the big church” in which she was a member.
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I’ll never forget that little storefront church. It stood down the street and in the shadow of a huge and elaborately appointed Catholic church, seemingly, almost as an afterthought. It was so small and had so few members that the thought of attracting a true “ordained man of God” was out of the question, so we had to settle for a little, unassuming man that we used to refer to as Elder Hampton. That little church was the closest thing to worshiping in someone’s living room as you could get, but to this day, whenever I begin to lose faith in the basic goodness of my fellow man, or even remotely begin to contemplate God, I think of that little storefront church.
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If I’d remained at that church, I don’t know what I would have been doing today. My young instincts led me to become so close to Elder Hampton that I might have even become a preacher. He used to take me with him to visit the old, the poor, and the sickly in the neighbor. Black, Mexican, young, old, Baptist or Catholic, he didn’t care what a person was—if they were sick or in need, they were all a part of his flock.
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Looking back on it, I don’t know where he found the resources. He certainly didn’t get it from our little collection plate—we were so poor and so few in number he couldn’t have gotten more than ten dollars a Sunday out of us, max. But in spite of that, he was no Sunday preacher. He was a full-time man of God–if you were sick or in need, you could count on him seven days a week. But after my grandmother had an operation and finally got over her illness, they took me to the “big church,” and I never saw Elder Hampton again, but his influence has remained constant in my life to this day—in fact, though I must admit that I’m rarely found in church these days, it is his lingering influence that’s led me to write this article, and everything else that I write.
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The first time I went to the big church I was completely overwhelmed with the opulence of it all. Shortly before I arrived, the church had just imported in a new fireball of an ordained minister, direct from Dallas, Texas. He was nothing like the quiet and humble Elder Hampton, he had a big booming voice, wore shinny Florsheims, expensive suits, and a sense of importance just oozed from every pore of his body. When this man walked into a room it sucked all the oxygen out of the place–you just knew you were in the presence of someone significant.
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And God must have loved this magnificent church the minister headed–the choir alone in this ornate house of God was larger by a factor of three than the entire membership of the little church I’d grown accustomed to, and the choir pit was twice as large as the room where we held Sunday school. The parking lot of the church was filled with big, expensive cars, and a limousine was often parked next to the front entrance. In addition, City Councilmen and other politicians were counted among its membership, and a well known entertainer was the church organist. In a church like this you didn’t have to wait to get to heaven–every Sunday you were right there. The only problem was, after services you had to return to reality, which was more often than not, a life of pure hell.
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I’ve often wondered what Elder Hampton would have done with all of those resources. But I couldn’t imagine Elder Hampton heading a magnificent place like this. Since he wasn’t ordained, he never would have even been considered to head a place like this in the first place. I don’t care how Godly you were, stature took precedence there–if Moses wanted to head the church, they’d want to inspect his credentials. But even if Elder Hampton would have been ordained, he was much too humble a man to be embraced by the high-powered people in this membership. With his quiet, unassuming demeanor, even as a member, he would have been a back-bencher—politely tolerated, but scarcely noticed.
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And further, Elder Hampton wouldn’t begin to know how to manage the resources of a huge church like that. While he was definitely a man of God, he wasn’t practical man. He probably would have squander all the church’s resources on the no-account sinners in the surrounding community.
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He was too impractical. He probably would have setup a soup kitchen and built a dormitory to house the homeless at night, and hired unemployed mothers to start a low-cost daycare center on the church grounds during the day. Then it wouldn’t be no time before he’d dig up the church’s beautiful grounds, trying to put up basketball courts and a recreation building to draw young people off the streets after school. And of course, between the kids during the day, the teenagers in the early evening, and the homeless at night, it would cost the church a fortune just to keep up the grounds and repair damages to the building.
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Much of the congregation would have been in an uproar over the chaos he’d create. And it would go far beyond simply chaos. He would have long since lost most of the influential politicians. Every Sunday he’d be hounding them at church, and calling them at home during the week, trying to get them to create Empowerment Zones, and Special Need Zones to establish low-cost loans to help the surrounding neighbors to purchase and fix-up the houses they were living in. It’s no wonder he’d drive the politicians out of the church. How would he expect these busy men to worship God in peace with him buzzing around like a gadfly trying to get them to help the poor?
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No, Elder Hampton’s heart was in the right place, but he’d have been much too impractical to run a big church like that. He was a God loving man, but he lacked common sense. He thought when God said Love thy neighbor, he meant it. What a fool.
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Yeah, Elder Hampton would have been a back-bencher at that church. He would have been the fool sitting way in the back–with Jesus.
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Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does.

I will try to make this my last response on this topic. I know that I believe God because I have a relationship with him not a religious following. Yes, the Bible was written by men but only throught the devine inspiration of what God told them to write. There is no way a mere man could make up the stuff that I have read in the Bible. No way! As for being born in Iran or any other country, there are people from all walks of life that accept Jesus as their Lord and personal saviour. The Bible is in EVERY major translation. There are many people from Iran that have become Christians!

Another thing, you cannot claim to be a Christian nor a man of God if you do not read the Bible. That just doesn’t make sense. You have to read the word in order to understand God better and how he works and speaks to us. God only acknowledges his word. That is why the Bible tells us to put him in remembrence of it. (Isaiah 43:6) Also, the Bible or the word of God IS God himself. Check out this scripture. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” –John 1:1 Another reason that I see you don’t read the Bible. You can’t follow God as strongly if you do not know anything about him. So please stop saying that you are a true believer and all of that if you do not read your word. Many people start off believing what their parents told them at first, but when they read for themselves they make their own decisions. I read the Bible for myself. My parents don’t make me go to church or read the Bible. I do it because I desire to be closer to him.

Believe it or not I thank you for your comments, because I see that there are some out there that are confused and mislead and need some answers as well. I now understand better my responsibility as a Christian to bring understanding to the world through the word of God. So thank you sir for letting God use you in that way even if you don’t realize that he can turn your intentions into good. I will be in prayer for you, that you do in fact read the word so that you will not be decieved. God bless and goodbye!

You’re not worshiping God. You’re worshiping a book written by man. Therefore, you’re worshiping man. The only evidence that we have that the Bible is the word of God is that the Bible says it’s the word of God. Any book can say that. I can write a book and make the exact same claim, and my claim would be no less legitimate than the Bible.

What you believe is an accident of birth, nothing more, and nothing less. if you had been born in Iran your belief in Islam would be just as adamant as it now is towards Christianity. How do I know this? God told me. When I was born God blessed me a device that allows him to whisper in my ear – it’s called the human mind, and his words are called common sense.

But unfortunately, due to man’s need to control other men, he’s convinced many to ignore God and follow him. And the method that man uses to convince other men to ignore God is called religion. So again, I beg you to consider how you came to believe what you do – it was beaten into your ancestors while they were tied up next to the mules.

God told me to tell you that, because he wants you to know the truth, so the truth can set you free.

Eric,

A true child of God.

Wow! I am amazed at your last comment. It is clear that you DO NOT read the Bible. It says very plainly that GOD is in fact very mindful of us. That is why we that are Christians are so humbled by him. With all of the planets and the vastness of the universe he still chooses us. This is the basic premise of Christianity! That is what makes us worship him. So you see, it is not “arrogance” it is simply faith and obedience. He sent his only begotten son for little ole me! (John 3:16) Why would he do that if he didn’t care? Read this my friend! “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? ” –Psalm 8:4 That chapter goes on to say how God has given us dominion over the Earth. He has even made us in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).

That is why I base my opinions on a book that has been here thousands of years and not just the knowledge that I have lived in my 26 years on this Earth. When you base info on your own opinions you come off as ignorant which simply means not knowing. Please educate yourself my friend and stop saying things that you have no foundation or understanding on. You have to read and understand the Bible for yourself before you can attack it! Again, maybe this article was not for you. So please click on another article and read it and stay off of this one with your comments. They are misled and unneccessary. So GIVE ME A BREAK from them.

I hope you do not take my tone as mean or disrespectful, but I must defend my faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If you do not use the Bible to live your life that is your business. I however do use the Bible and so do many people. That will always be a fact my friend. I will be praying for you because you are most definitely decieved by Satan. Do not let him use you. Let God use you! Get some understanding and please receive my reply in love! God bless you sir!

It’s clear that your heart is in the right place, so please don’t take my position personally. But we have absolutely no evidence that the Bible is the word of God. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong beliver in God, but not because of what somebody wrote in a book.

I have evidence of my God – creation. As far as I’m concerned, whatever force is responsible for existence is God – period. But I look upon ALL organized religions in the very same way I do voodoo. It’s an unsubstantiated belief – in other words, a superstition. That’s why it’s based on faith. But I don’t have to base my belief system on faith, because faith is only required where there is doubt. But I have no doubt – God is existence, and we exist, therefore God exists.

Thank you! I am glad that it blessed you! You can check out my other articles at http://keepingthevision.blogspot.com! I appreciate the support! You can log on and leave a comment or subscribe!

This article was written to encourage, inspire, and uplift those individuals who feel oppressed by the everyday pressures of sexual temptation in society. It’s purpose is to show those who are not sexually active and those that may have been in the past, but are no longer that one does not have to engage in sex to feel important, needed, wanted or fulfilled. You can live a purpose filled life without engaging in sexual activity. I am merely expounding on what the word of God says, therefore my writings are based on his word not my own opinions. Sex was created by God to be shared between a husband and wife. Adam and Eve were the first examples of this union. Sex is not a need. In other words, you will not die if you are not having sex. Furtheremore sex outside of marriage DOES hurt others. As I stated in my article there are unwanted pregnancies, fatherless homes, STD’s and “soul ties” created from this behavior. One of the top killers of black women between ages 25-34 is HIV/AIDS. God would not tell us to wait if he did not think it would hurt us. He doesn’t want to ruin your fun, he wants you to live a long, healthy, stress-free, life. He gives you guidelines in the Bible, but it is your choice to follow them. He will not force you, because he gives us free will to decide. I am encouraging those that do follow the Bible. If that’s not you, then this article may not be for you. So please do not discourage those individuals that do want to better themselves through the word of God. If you do in fact follow the Bible please read Galatians 5:19-21 which explains the Bible’s stance on the topic. Also, if you are a believer, please pray and ask God to give you direction on how to live a life that pleases him. Black women have been hurt enough by the effects of sexual sin. Thanks, and have a blessed day.