Sherraye Speaks -- What About The Children?

She said she couldn't breathe. I thought she just wanted to get out of washing the dishes. Later that night, she got worse. I put her in the car and headed to the emergency room. As I was about to hit the entrance ramp to I-95, I thought about the bill. Money was already tight and because I was in the middle of a career transition, I didn't have health insurance. I told my daughter that I would just stop by CVS and get some anti nausea medicine. I thought she just had a stomach flu. She stopped vomiting, but something worse was looming.

The next day, when I got home from work, my daughter was lying in a pool of urine, she was breathing laboriously, and she was non responsive. Still, I thought she was just really, really dehydrated and needed to get some fluids in her system. I called 911, they took her to the ER, I got there a few minutes later and a doctor escorted me to a private area. "Your daughter has diabetes," he announced. "She is in a coma."

I was in shock.

He explained that they were giving her insulin to bring her blood sugar down. I felt so bad and the gravity of the situation had not sunk in. But it was about to.

A chaplain came in to pray with me. That's when I knew something was wrong. I summoned the doctor and asked him why I needed a chaplain. He told me that normal blood sugar is around 140. Your daughter's is 1200. He said that he didn't expect her to make it through the night. She was transferred to Nemours and the prognosis was no better over there. They told me she had 4 maybe 5 hours to live. If she lived, she would be a vegetable because of the swelling of her brain.

It had come to this.

I didn't get her to the Emergency Room sooner because I was worried about the bill. My child almost died because I was worried about how I was going to pay the bill.

Those of you who claim to be Christians but oppose universal healthcare, let me ask you a question. What would Jesus Do? Didn't he say, suffer the little children to come unto me? Doesn't the Bible that you claim to believe in say they who give to the poor lendeth to the Lord? Or did you skip that part? Some of you need to check yourself. You say you are a Christian but you have no compassion for the less fortunate and you have none of the attributes of Jesus. There is no fruit blossoming in your life. You are cold, heartless, and devoid of love. You're not a Christian because you are nothing like Christ.

I looked that doctor in his eyes after he told me my child, my first born, had 5 hours to live and I said to him, "She will be fine." And she was, thanks to the prayers of REAL Christians and the compassion of those wonderful nurses and doctors. My baby is a walking miracle. But you know what? She shouldn't have needed a miracle. I should have been able to take her to the doctor before the crisis hit. In a country as rich as ours, the fact that any man, woman, boy, or girl has died or may die because of lack of finances is ridiculous. If we can spend a billion dollars a month fighting a war then so what if we spend 900 billion dollars to give every American access to quality health care.

So I support MY president in his efforts to provide health care to every American regardless to their financial prowess or socioeconomic status. No one should die or go broke because they can't afford healthcare. If you don't feel the same, then shame on you. Take that cross from around your neck and throw your Bible in the garbage. You obviously don't believe in it.

The Rev. John Hagee to Speak at Rally for Israel

The Rev. John Hagee, founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel, will speak at "A Night to Honor Israel" at 6 p.m. Sunday at Without Walls Central Church in Lakeland. He will be joined by Ofer Bavly, Israeli Consul General in Miami.

Members of a Lakeland synagogue will participate as well. Cantor Victor Geigner of Temple Emanuel will sing the Israeli national anthem near the beginning of the service and a member of the temple will blow the ceremonial shofar, or ram's horn, Geigner said.

The rally is intended to demonstrate solidarity between Christians and Jews, said the Rev. Scott Thomas, pastor of Without Walls Central. It is the third such event hosted by the church.

"We want to let the Jewish community know we are standing with them and praying for them. ... The Bible tells us as Christians to stand for and with Israel. It's a scriptural mandate," he said. "Christianity could never stand without Judaism. The founding fathers of the Christian faith were the founding fathers of the Jewish faith."

Hagee is pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, a large Pentecostal congregation. In books and sermons, Hagee has stated that Israel is at the center of a scenario that will include the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ to Earth, a theology known as "Christian Zionism." He has expressed unequivocal support for the policies of conservative Israeli political parties in Israel's land disputes with the government of the Palestinian Authority, and his organization also lobbies the U.S. government on behalf of Israel.

Last year, Hagee was forced to withdraw his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain because of previously published comments that charged the Catholic Church conspired with Adolf Hitler "to exterminate the Jews." Hagee subsequently issued an apology.

My response:

Humph...

Bishop Weeks pleads guilty

Is this the beginning of a reconciliation? Hmmm...

Bishop Thomas W. Weeks pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault in the summertime attack on his estranged wife, national evangelist Juanita Bynum.

In Fulton County Superior Court before judge T. Jackson Bedford, Weeks admitted that he grabbed Bynum, threw her down and kicked her in the parking of the Renaissance Concourse Hotel, near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Aug. 21.

Weeks immediately was sentenced to three years probation, 200 hours of non-church related community service and ordered to attend anger management counseling. If he successfully completes these conditions, the conviction will be expunged from his record.

The contrite pastor apologized to Bynum.

My response:

No comment other than I hope both of them get in the presence of God and get it together...for real.

Click the link and read the rest.

Bishop Weeks tells his side of the story

So Bishop Weeks was on BET last night and I gotta tell you, he was very convincing. He denies beating Prophetess Bynum on that night in August 2007. I don't believe that. I also don't believe that he has never hit her. I do believe that we did not get the whole story and I believe him when he says she used to beat the crap out of him.

He also said that Juanita did not have a relationship with his daughter and that she was a different person when he would return from visiting her. I believe that.

According to Bishop Weeks, Prophetess Bynum wanted to walk away from ministry and go to Hollywood. I believe that too. Ministry is no joke and the higher up you go in it, the more mess you find out is going on. If you don't know any better, the mess that goes on makes you wonder if God even exists.

This mess right here is a prime example.

Casey makes a statement

The following is a statement Casey Weldon made on Thursday to the North Florida Christian football team, students, fans, parents, faculty and staff:

“I want to give so many thanks for the support before this, during this and after this. There are so many people to thank. I just really appreciate the support me and my family have gotten … I’m not perfect, I haven’t been perfect. And when I wasn’t I owned up to it. To the entire school, I just love it. I love it. I loved the opportunity to coach these kids. I felt like I was getting better.

“And I learned so much. I got so much from these last two years. It was the best two years of football that I’ve ever had. And that’s saying an awful lot. It was just so, so rewarding. I hope that these boys will be better men, better husbands, better fathers having been underneath the coaches. Not me, not just me, but all of the staff that we’ve had the last two years.
“I love NFC. And I always will.”

Classy, classy guy. Too classy for NFC.

Read this column about Casey's firing. I couldn't say it better myself.

Low down and dirty

Just when I thought the Weeks/Bynum controversy would fall off into oblivion...

Bishop Thomas Weeks was on the Tom Joyner morning show on Monday talking smack about Juanita Bynum.

He appeared to announce the debut of his book, which was selling for $13.95. It included pages detailing what Weeks said were the couple's "weaknesses" in chapters with titles like "Opposites Attract, But Do They Last," and "She Wanted To Be the Next Oprah at Any Cost."

About 48 hours later, "What Love Taught Me" was yanked from distribution with this message on his website to his wife and his Global Destiny church family: "I want to speak to my wife," Weeks pleads. "I haven't been able to talk to her since Aug. 21, but I want to share something very personal and heartfelt. ... I have wounded her emotionally in the last 48 hours. I want to say publicly, globally and privately from my heart, I'm sorry. I am pulling every book that would have been shipped."

Weeks, an author and leader of a global ministry, promises a "full refund" to those who have ordered the book and says he will rerelease it at another date under a new title, "What Love Taught Me — Only."

I'm just shakin' my head. Scandalous. And we act like we don't know why attendance is down at church. Help us, Jesus.

Booker Rising --On the McClurkin controversy

Shay from Booker Rising: comments on the Donnie McClurkin/Obama controversy:

"My response: I didn't know Mr. McClurkin was a reverend, nor that he calls himself an ex-gay (although I'm not surprised about his gay history, because he always struck me as 'sweet'). Let's talk numbers. Gays are, at best, 2% of the total electorate. Blacks are 12% of the total electorate. While there are certainly people who are both gay and black, it is white gays by far who are leading the charge against this gospel tour. Sen. Obama losing the gay vote is politically irrelevant. However, Sen. Obama is in a big battle with Sen. Clinton for the black vote, which comprises the majority of the Democratic primary electorate in the state of South Carolina. This gospel tour - and the criticisms of it by (overwhelmingly white) gay activists - may actually help Sen. Obama with black voters, because he may rightly or wrongly be seen in some black quarters as defending black culture from gay folks."

My response to her response:

She said it much better than I could have.

I must confess, my faith is shaken

There is so much mess going on in the world and in the church that I no longer know what I believe. Do we baptize in Jesus's name or do we have to say "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? Is baptism even necessary? Am I cursed if I don't tithe? Am I blessed if I do?

I am sick. Sick, sick, sick of religious people. They are mean, judgmental, self righteous hypocrites and I'm telling you I don't believe in church anymore.

But I do believe in God. Why?

As a little girl, I attended a small sanctified church. They used to sing this song:

Well, let me tell you he's real....real....Jesus is real to me.
Oh yes, He gives me the victory
You can't make me doubt Him
I know too much about Him
That is why I love him so
He's so real to me

He's made Himself real to me. He kept me when I thought I was losing my mind. I went through life feeling unloved and unloveable. He's made ways and opened doors. He blessed in the face of my enemies. He's answered my prayers and some He didn't. It all turned out to be a blessing My daughter almost died...Doctors said she wouldn't live through the night but she's still alive and gettin' on my nerves.

Lawd, I feel like preaching. ( I used to pastor a church by the way).

That's why I don't argue with folks about God. He can't be explained. He has to be experienced.
Sadly, these days, the last place I go to experience God is church. But no matter how turned off I am to religion, I still seek relationship with God. My faith in church folks is shaken, but not my faith in God.

So I want to encourage all those who read this post. In the face of all the mess that we see and hear every day, losing faith is understandable. Just don't lose your faith in God.

For black women Clinton-Obama poses a quandary: Times Argus Online

For black women Clinton-Obama poses a quandary: Times Argus Online: "We always love Hillary because we love her husband,' Vereen said. Then she paused. Much of the chitchat in her shop is about whether a woman could or should be president. 'A man is supposed to be the head,' she said. 'I feel like the Lord has put man first, and I believe in the Bible.'"

My response:
Are you serious? Are there really people who still think like that? My intention was to take this post in a completely different direction, but I had to comment. I'm not going to get into a theological debate but I'll say this. People need to get an understanding of the Bible and the God of the Bible. This kind of stuff makes me sick.