At the age of 10, Jayber’s life had been turned upside down. His aunt Cordie died, and he had no other relatives, so he was placed in The Good Shepherd orphanage. While at the orphanage, Jayber felt that he had been called into the ministry. After being orphaned at such a young age with nowhere to call home, he may have been looking too hard for a place to fit in or a place that he belonged. This could have led him to believe that he had been called to preach. He started pre-ministry at Pigeonville College, but before long he had started questioning his own beliefs and found himself wandering around looking for answers and a place to call home.…
Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer. By Marie W. Dallam. (New York: New York University Press, 2007. viii, 263 pp. $35.00, ISBN 978-0-8147-2010-3.)…
The three African- American pastors whose lives span 150 year. Anyabwile emphasizes how this book unearths the unknown treasures of three significant African- American pastors whose sermons, writing and accomplishments demonstrate what God’s grace can achieve in and through those who are faithful. The title encapsulates the message of the book for we are introduced to three African- American pastors who were faithful to their…
Religion Symposium “The challenge of being a _____________.” on Monday November 2nd in CH 217 was well attended. There were three speakers Marilyn Leach an Episcopalian priest, Sa'eed Purcell a Muslim imam, and Noam Sienna a Jewish student. The first speaker is Marilyn a priest here in Marshall. It took Marilyn seven years of classes to get her license that in itself had to be struggle to keep motivated and stay focused on becoming a priest. She said part of the challenge was the small group and long distance to travel between meetings with other congregations. Marilyn has been a priest for ten years in the Marshall community. Marilyn faces challenges of being a woman priest and a man from her congregation not accepting communion from her…
He is the leader here on earth that God had assigned us to be under in ministry. This is a man who is a Leader, Teacher, Father, Husband, Counselor, arbitrator and the list can go continue for pages. He loves God, his family and this church. He has sacrificed time with his wife, kids, holidays, vacations, sports events, first steps not because it is his job but because it is his lifelong ministry. This is a labor of love. I ask you today to think about him and his service and if you, me all of us are making his way easier by holding up his arms in the spiritual sense. For those of you who have participated and given your all in making this vision happen for the man of God, I remind you of I Kings 17 of the woman who blessed the man of God, her flour was never exhausted, and her oil was never…
Churches that Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works was authored by Ronald J. Sider, Philip N. Olson, and Heidi Rolland Unruh and published in 2002. Along with pastoring and mission work, Sider has been the Director of the “Congregations, Community Outreach, and Leadership Development Project” at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Unruh has been the Associate Director working with him. Olson has been a mission pastor and a pioneer in holistic ministry, networking and social action.…
Jimmy boy slowly became the teacher and I the pupil. Sadly enough, Jimmy boy died a tragic and untimely death. Even though Jimmy boy is no longer with us, his divine thoughts made me ultimately abandon my own ‘American Dream’ and return to my country with a purpose of working for the poor. I am yet to fulfill my ambition (rather his dream), but yes I can say with some comfort that I have done quite a bit since the time I left the…
The Evangelistic ministry design, will take the unchurched back to the beginning of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, and allow God to take on the battle of any given concern of lostness, hurt, or the pain of life, at any stage. The unchurched of the community then expects the miracles that only God is capable of, through faith, to heal and address added concerns.33 Bible-based counselors of the evangelist ministry will teach adults who find themselves in a situation where life has become unbearable and in some cases overwhelming, well-studied coping methods. Unfortunately, the Christian who seeks counseling, encounters the how, who, what, and why God is, has been challenged. In relation to Floyd Barackman’s findings the mindset of humankind suffers greatly when decisions and lifestyles are lived without God. Barackman states, “God is reliable and the qualities of His nature are…
In philosophical literature, Marquis argued that abortion was/is immoral, except only in rare exceptions, but more importantly he noted that prochoice and anti-abortion arguments cannot be symmetric thus making discussion on the topic quite a conundrum. Marquis purported the arguments of anti-abortionist, who asserted and believed that life is present at or from the moment of conception, and that fetuses look like babies, possess genetic code, and are therefore in possession of the qualities and attributes of being humans. While pro-choicers typically assert that fetuses are not persons as they are not rational agents or social beings. Marquis did however exclaim that anti- abortionist and pro-choicers arguments/beliefs exhibit two similarities,…
After learning about the story of Josiah DuBois and the lives that he saved, it has allowed me to reflect on how the actions I have taken that has caused an impact on those around me. Taking a concern for the lives of those around him, Josiah DuBois, has created a ripple of good deeds that carry on into generation after generation. Looking at my community and the problem that we face, I decided to take it into my own hands and work together to make those lives around me a little bit better. No matter what the project is, working together to overcome hardships and lift each other up is “just what a human being should do.”…
For my service learning project I interviewed a lay minister in the Mormon Church. Brett Anderson is a Deacon in…
Only mere hours ago we were leading separate lives, and now we were to come together and choose a leader. The men and women around the table were each feeling the same sense of dread. The words “Please, don’t pick me!” were figuratively written on a bubble above everyone’s head. As I gazed upon this collection of strangers, I began to feel empathetic. Each of us knew the weight of this responsibility, yet none of us wanted to take it. Suddenly, as if someone else took control of my voice, I said confidently, “I’ll do it.” It was at that moment that God gave me the confidence to overcome my…
My professional career is a very fulfilling one in which it is imperative that I present myself in a clear and concise image of God. Without being strong in my Christian faith this would not be a possibility. I work for Milton Hershey School which is a no-cost private school for children that come from poverty. On a daily basis I have the responsibilities of protecting two thousand underprivileged children assuring their safety. Living in an image of God allows me to protect the many children that come from poverty, as well as to interact in a professional manner with visitors to the campus.…
By the end of this interview, I learned more about my pastor than most people would have known. His story is not like most people’s; and he has definitely had a rollercoaster ride throughout his life. From going through a conversion experience, to raising a child’s life, and doing many extraordinary things, Fr. H truly is an inspirational figure in the…
In this paper, I am going to share my ideas of theology. I believe that one of the biggest mistakes I made in the past was that I was afraid of being rejected, so I wrote a theology paper and tried to give the previous COM what I thought they wanted to hear instead of what was truly inside of me. Fortunately for me, even though I was not given a green light in order to see the Eccleastical Council, I was licensed to preach and this gave me time to wrestle with my theology and helped me to see where I stood on these very important areas of Christian faith.…