Church member falls ill during worship, revived by CFD

By Chinta Strausberg

Though Father Michael L. Pfleger was going through his own personal storm of grieving over the death of his middle son Beronti, 32, who died yesterday, Sunday he told the 2012 graduating Saint Sabina Academy students, who watched as paramedics revive a church member who fell ill, that the “Holy Spirit intervened.”

Pfleger told the students they had witnessed a real live lesson on just how “fragile” life really is and why they must put God in the center of their lives.

“There was a greater communion that took place here this morning,” Pfleger said referring to Opal Smith, a Saint Sabina member who earlier fell out during the 11:15 a.m. worship service.

Pfleger’s staff quickly made a 911 call and several Chicago Fire Department paramedics quickly responded. As the choir sang, Pfleger asked the church to stretch out their hands and pray for healing for Smith. While the choir sang, the students looked on in disbelief as paramedics administered an IV then carefully placed Smith on a stretcher and took her to the hospital.

Pfleger told the students to depend on God and to understand the “life’s circumstances that happened before your eyes….” He told the students they must understand that God “is the only one” they can turn to when it’s their time to go through their storms in life. He encouraged them to learn how to “lean on him, to cry out to him…to depend on him, make us the blessing unto one another….and then nothing can stop you, nothing can hinder you, nothing can get in the way of you….

“I don’t care what you’ve learned in eight-years at Saint Sabina, but if you’ve not learned that, you’re not going to make it because you will come into times where maybe your family, your friends, your education or your knowledge can’t do one thing for you…. The only one who can take care of Sister Opal is Jesus, the only one who can save her is Jesus….”

Pfleger said Smith has a relationship with Jesus and told the students “you had better have a relationship with him so that you can call on him yourself because he is the only one” they can call on for help so when it is their time to go through their life’s storms “they can handle this.”

To the male graduating students, Pfleger told them “don’t let the devil deceive you into thinking that you’re so tough…that you got to handle this…. You can’t handle you…. You’ll never be that strong. “ He said they must learn that Christ is the man they can call on when they are in need.

“Life will cause you to fall out, not by your choice…. If you know him…, he’s got you. He’s got your back….. Understand the things you better have more than anything else in life is a relationship with him and if you do, there is nothing in the world you’ll face that you can’t overcome. He is more than an over comer in you and the he in you is greater than the he in the world,” Pfleger told the students.

Referring to an earlier sermon by Julie Welborn, a member of Saint Sabina who holds a Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union, a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., Pfleger said, ‘I don’t care what you think, what you’re angry about or what you haven’t done, there is one who can handle it, who can heal it and who can take you forward.”

Pointing a finger at the students who wore their graduation gowns, Pfleger gave them some advice: “Don’t let anything in your past, your present or anything in your future lock you up. Do you hear me eighth graders? That diploma, that gown, don’t mean a thing if you don’t know him, but if you do I swear by my testimony of my life, God will bring you through it and give you the victory in every, not some, but every situation in your life. Do you hear me, young men”?

“There was a greater communion that took place this morning,” Pfleger told the church. “It’s called a communion with the Holy Spirit, a communion with each other. I refused to be locked into ritual when the Holy Spirit intervenes. When the devil comes and rises up…,” God can overcome, he said.

“Let us wrestle with what we heard, what we seen and witnessed today so we come to understand who you really are and who you call us to be in him…cause us to wrestle that let us know you are the only one we can turn to….

 “Let us not be the same as we leave here, but let us be stronger in faith than we’ve ever been…,” Pfleger said. “Go in the faith you proclaim here…for the rest of the days of your lives.” He asked the church to pray for the students for their future academic and spiritual growth and to “go in faith and proclaim healing.”

Earlier, Welborn, who this fall will begin work on her doctorate at the Catholic Theological Union, told the students life is full of barriers, storms and questions like what do you do when people walk away from you, when people walk on you, when you lose the job you love, when a bullet hits a person you know, when someone dies prematurely…? What happens when life pulls the rug from beneath you?

Speaking on the 2012 theme of both Saint Sabina Church and the Saint Sabina Academy, “Mission Possible: Your Destiny Awaits you,” Minister Welborn told the students to “wake up.”  “Nothing is impossible with God…God is the finisher…..God has need of you….. God brought you unto this earth to do something…. Do you really want to have a relationship with him?

“I don’t care how you got here….. The bible says you are fearlessly and wonderfully made”?  She told them that they were not mistakes and that they are a blessing…. When the rubber meets the road and it will, keep living…” but always has God as your pilot.

“What happens when mission possible seems impossible”? she asked. Saying her brother died when he was 30 and Pastor Pfleger’s son died at the age of 32, Welborn told the students “time is short…. If you don’t do it, it won’t get done.” What drives missions,” she asked explaining, “people, places and things. “

Welborn asked six students to come to the altar and others to sit down. She warned: “Be careful who you sit with….know who you’re walking with, standing with and sitting with….””

She told of the time when she came home, her mother was cooking fish. She didn’t eat the fish, but her clothes began to smell of fish. She was on her way to a meeting. Welborn admitted she was “stinking up the meeting. A stench that started in my kitchen” but ended up affecting “not only me but everybody around me.”

“Be careful where you go and whom you are spending time with,” she warned. “Watch were you go. Watch who you hang out with…,” she said explaining life is about choices. She told them to believe in themselves. Pray and talk to God and ask God to be their father. “Don’t be afraid of the Holy Spirit…”

“The enemy wants to trip you up and make you not like yourself. Once you know who you are and once you are courageous and bold and know that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, I don’t care what hand you are dealt, but when you have a partner your partner can make up a difference and God is your partner….”

“Saying it’s hard, she asked the students, “Let’s take a stand and take a step…. As you are getting ready to close this chapter at Saint Sabina and move forward to something greater, he knows everything that is about to happen.

“Join with him and let him play your hand…. I can’t promise you it won’t be difficult… but I can promise you no weapon formed against you will prosper. I can promise you that nothing you do, nothing you say, will separate you from his love and at the end of the day, that’s all we need,” she said as the students went back to the altar for a collective prayer.

Joined by Cinque Cullar, Minister of Youth, Welborn who led them in prayer. Welborn asked what things tripped up their lives. In response, some of the students felt no one loved them, others admitted they did wrong things and wanted to be better. Their bold confessions got them some hugs from both Welborn and Pfleger who asked them to let God order their steps throughout their lives.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.

(From the National Black Church Initiative)

‘We have a 25% unemployment rate’

Religious leader said the banking industry is targeting vulnerable borrowers

Somerset, NJ (BlackNews.com) — The rain didn’t stop DeForest B. Soaries Jr., senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J., from burning credit card offer letters his members brought to church on Sunday.

Standing in the rain, Soaries – the former Secretary of State for New Jersey – publicly burned the credit card offer letters in the church parking lot to send a message that financial companies should stop targeting vulnerable borrowers.

“The time has come for us to stop making people rich off of our ignorance. We need to do something against consumer debt,” Soaries told the crowd. “We are burning up these offers as a show of enthusiasm against these practices – to minimize the use of credit cards, to moderate the debt. In the ‘60s it was segregation, and in 2012 it is this fight where the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. We are saying we will no longer contribute to this.”

While Soaries has been working for years to dispel the dangers of living beyond your means, he ramped up his efforts on Sunday because of an article that recently appeared in The New York Times.

“In recent months there has been a dramatic increase in the marketing efforts from major banks for credit cards,” Soaries said. “This seemed to subside at the peak of the economic crisis and recession when the mortgages’ default rates and credit cards’ default rates went up. Now that banks are on more solid footing thanks to the taxpayers bailing them out, they have once again increased efforts to lure people into credit card debt.”

Soaries, author of “dfree®: Breaking Free from Financial Slavery” (Zondervan, 2011), a financial strategy book that details a four-prong approach for getting out of debt, has made it a priority to work with people on becoming debt free. dfree® classes, which the book is based on, have been taught at First Baptist since 2005 and dfree® was featured in CNN’s Black in America 3: “Almighty Debt,” in October 2010.

Soaries is also working on a number of other programs aimed at financial literacy, including campaigning to shut down anti-payday loan centers, launching a website where people can securely enter their debt and track payments and a college tour to teach students about financial responsibility

Photo credit: Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger

1^st of 3 free financial workshops at Saint Sabina

By Chinta Strausberg

Hundreds came out late to hear Minister Deena Marie Carr, who teaches Finance: According To Your Faith (FATYF), present the first of three free financial workshops at Saint Sabina Church late Tuesday night that are bible-based and where she told the class, “God’s not broke. You shouldn’t be, either.”

Carr, who blends modern business and financial strategies with biblical principles, provides her class with invaluable information and the tools they need to manage their finances.

Father Michael L. Pfleger introduced Carr saying she is a product of the Chicago Public Schools. Carr graduated from Whitney M. Young College Preparatory High School. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University; a MBA in finance from the University of Chicago is the recipient of a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Ministry and Finance from Hope Bible School and Seminary. She continues her education at the London School of Economics where she is enrolled in the Executive Program.

Carr is a partner at a major management-consulting firm and she specializes in helping the leadership of Fortune 500 Financial Services and Insurance companies develop “cutting edge business strategies that incorporate the strategic use of technology to reach their goals.”

Though she has adopted a son, she still finds time for her ministerial duties at the Christian Heritage Training Center, which is her home church. A “PK Kid,” Carr’s great-grandfather was a Baptist preacher; however, she was raised in the Pentecostal religion, and she uses biblical passages as the basis of her popular financial freedom classes.

Growing up as a child of a pastor, Carr said back then when you wanted something or money to pay your bills, you simply prayed for God to intervene and grant your wishes, but then she began to study economics, began working and consulting with businesses. That is when she learned that all the answers to financing are in the bible.

During her first workshop at Saint Sabina, Carr focused on “How do we structure our finances so that we are online in our financial lives the same way we are online with our spiritual lives with the word of God.”

“The believer and their finances first operate on a spiritual context…. We believe that the spirit of God is solvent. We must understand the economic context, the economic environment that is going on and how” your plan works in that environment. “If you don’t get that right, you’ll mess up everything,” she said pointing to the unpredictable real estate field as an example. “Real estate is a fantastic investment in the right economic environment. If you do it in a wrong economic investment, you’ll lose your shirt.”

Carr asked the class what metaphor is used when money is referenced in the bible. The answer is a seed. Asking for one of the students to pass her a bill, Carr held up a $5.00 bill. She told of how different people may spent that money like busying shoes that are on sale, a video, or a large screen TV almost as large as an apartment. But others are more responsible like spending their seed on gas. The question she asks was ‘what did you do with your seed”?

She asked how do go about gathering your seed and how do you manage your seed. How you grow your seed is key to maximizing your return for taking on a prudent risk. She spoke about leverage, which is debt.

“Debt is only used to acquire an asset,” Carr said. “An asset is something that increases in value and preferably produces an income. If you use debt to acquire something that is not producing value and is not producing income, you are misusing debt,” said Carr.

Too often, people use debt to acquire things that decrease in value. Debt is a financial instrument that is used to acquire an asset. That is the only way to use debt, she said. Debt is a tool for deal making.

 “If you are going to start a business and you need $250,000 to start that business, there are two ways to do that. You can either give me ownership in the business…or borrow the money from a bank and keep your business….” “Debt is a tool for deal-making. It is not the way to finance your way of life.”

The spiritual framework of her first workshop involve six steps:  1) spiritual context, 2) Economic context, 3) gathering seeds, 4) managing seeds, 5) growing seeds and 6) leverage which is debt which is only used to acquire an asset.

“An asset is something that increases in value and produces an income. If you use debt to acquire something that does not acquire income, you are misusing debt,” she warned. “Debt is a tool for deal-making. It is not the way to finance your way of life.”

“The financial decisions that you make have to have prayer and they have to align before God,” said Carr. “We must tap into the wealth He has created by obeying every rule that He makes. God will speak to you and tell you exactly what to do…. The more you tap into the wealth that God created for us and the more you tap into it by obeying the word of God and taking actions in our lives, the more wealth flows through us,” Carr stated.

Spiritual obedience is the key to building wealth, she said. “We must tap into the wealth He has created by obeying. God will speak to you and tell you exactly what to do. The more we tap into it, the more the it will flow through us.”

“God will take care of us,” Carr said. “We have to take our minds out of this notion of our money and our job are taking care of us. Our money and our jobs are not taking care of us…. You obey God and that job is your place of ministry to be your vessel to help that job, that company to walk the halls praying because God put you there for such a time as this to help Him in exchange for giving you some income, but they are not the source of the income. It’s what God is using at that time.

“And if they (your employer) get out of line and God tells me to leave, He is going to give me another source,” said Carr. She stresses that people should give to the Kingdom of God “because God is taking care of us.”

Carr emphasized that “God is our source and these (jobs) are just vehicles and conduits that God is using to challenge us…”to minister and to be the light and your salt and to be your revelation as what you should do in that situation….”

She urged them to understand that they are to tap into their wealth that God has already created and to be obedient to God. “He says I give you the power to get wealth. He said you’re going to have gold…lots of things,” Carr said referring them to Deuteronomy 8:6-20. *

After reading these verses, Carr talked about giving and the importance of tithing. She asks the class to refer to the Old Testament as the Covenant. “It was the Covenant that God made with us. And the Old Testament is to be referred to as the “fulfillment of Covenant. “There is only one covenant. Jesus said I am not come to destroy the law. I come to fulfill the law.”

On giving, Carr said, “Many people don’t give…. That covenant was given. Those things they were told to do that was something that God was telling them to do so that they could be his covenant people…..”

“What is more important is that you give out of Covenant which means you give out of obedience. The first step of applying our finances is through covenant debate.

“How do we as believers build up wealth? How we structure our finances so that we are aligned in our financial lives the same way we are aligned in our spiritual lives with the word”?

“People will tell you go right down all of your bills and write down how much money you got. That is a lot of effort to tell you what you already know. You have more bills than you have money. Stop spending so much money. That’s commonsense,” she told the class. “God’s not broke. You shouldn’t be either,” she said.

“How do we structure your finances to allow us to be successful and how do we take that to the next level whether you are working on a job or business?”

She talked about tithes, offering, budgeting or financial structuring and debt management and the importance of the return on your investment and how it is the reward for having taking a prudent risk. However, Carr warned, “You have to make sure that the return matches the amount of risk that you take.”

How does one deal with financial mistakes? Carr gave this advice: “It depends on where you are in a situation.” Carr’s main theme in wealth building is to always remember that “God is the one who gives the power to attain wealth” and that the bible is clear in saying God “is the one who gives you the power to get wealth.”

In her book, “Wealth-Grow It God’s Way,” Carr warns “No matter what our level of wealth, we have a responsibility to manage it to the best of our ability and to increase it.”

She asked the class what is the purpose of the tithes. Shrugging off incorrect answers such as tithes are for the preacher, she said, “The tithe was to take care of the Levites.”

Referring to the 12 tribes, Carr, who also teaches a graduate course at North Park University, said,  “It was the responsibility of the Levites to take care of the needs of the people. The tithe was a provision for the Levites….”

The offering is for the priest. She also talked about the first fruit where God was asked to bless the rest of the harvest. “If you want God to bless you, if you want to tap into wealth, you have to look at wealth as something that you are creating but something that God is unleashing. What ever you get, you must first give back to God with the understanding that you are asking God to bless the rest of it.”

“Giving becomes the mechanism that we physically demonstrate how God is first. If we cannot trust God we begin with a portion, then you cannot ask God to bless the rest. The more money you make, the more God tells you to give,” she said. “

“Our finances are not a separate entity from our spiritual lives but an intrical part, done as an instrument, not a way of life.” In her book, “Wealth – Grow It God’s Way: Financial Empowerment For Your Future,” Carr, who used to pray for a winning Lottery ticket, quotes from Proverbs 13:11 and the dangers of wealth quickly won.

Citing the many horror stories of those who do win huge amounts of Lottery prizes, Carr wrote this is not the type of wealth she teaches but rather “the wealth that is actually sustaining, that produces an income, allows us to live a life that is exciting and fulfilled, and, most important, allows us to extend the Kingdom of God.

“Think about it again. Does God want us to be wealthy? The answer is Yes, God does want us to be wealthy, but it is not the Lottery winning, riverboat gambling, or overnight riches that we focus on. The Lord is specific about wealth. He defines it, gives His children the ability to acquire it, and presents specific instructions on how to manage it,” she wrote.

What is the purpose of wealth? Car writes in her book, “The real question is: what are we growing our money for? We must tap into the fact that the purpose of our wealth is not just so we can be comfortable in this life. The bible tells us, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3). The reason we increase wealth is so we can do more to make a difference in the Kingdom of God.”

For those who go into business for themselves, Carr made it clear that they should not believe they achieved this goal on their own. Rather, she says “God wants us to remember that we have been blessed with businesses, as He promised in Deuteronomy, but when we develop these enterprises, we shouldn’t think we did it by ourselves. It was He who gave us the ability and power.”

Wealth, she said, “does not begin in the natural; it begins in the spiritual” and the reason is that “wealth ultimately comes from and belongs to God. All you are doing is exercising your spiritual muscle to become one of His stewards.”

Quoting from Matthew 9:37, Carr wrote in her book, “Jesus said, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.’ I don’t think laborers exist just so we can all become preachers. I believe the Lord needs some individuals to have wealth because there are people in the world who are suffering, and these men, women and children need spiritual solutions, but they also need financial solutions.”

She said God has given people enough power to be as prosperous as He has ordained in order for us to make a difference.

Jesus, she wrote, “emphasized that salvation was based on the heart of man, and our focus should be beyond the accumulation of wealth; it should be on building the Kingdom of God. It should be centered on doing all that we can to make a difference, and wealth, no matter how large or small, does not serve that purpose, it is of no use.”

Carr gave the class a homework assignment: At her next free financial workshop at Saint Sabina, on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 7 p.m., she asked the class to write down these three things: 1) all of your expenses, 2) write down all of your sources of income including what you want your sources of income to be, 3) and beginning now, record all monies you spend including your debit or credit card or a newspaper.

Carr repeatedly told her students that God is their source of wealth. In her book, she wrote: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work….

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:8, 10-11 NIV).

“Man runs out. Earth runs out. God never runs out. Thus, our Heavenly Father is not a resource, He is the source,” she wrote. If you want to generate an income, Carr asked, “wouldn’t it make sense to do that from the point of origin, from the Source”? She emphasized that a person’s employment “is a resource” for their income and is “what God directs” you to do “in order to fulfill His will” in their lives and the life of the company where they work.

If you have more questions about, click on Carr’s website: http://www.financeaccordingtoyourfaith.org/

*6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land, which He has given you.

11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;

13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.

Stay awake to prevent more Trayvon Martin’s, or racism

By Chinta Strausberg

Father Michael L. Pfleger warned Americans not to go back to sleep after the arrest of George Zimmerman who admitted to shooting Trayvon Martin, and to have faith and the vision to see beyond their present situation including standing up for what is right even if that means opposing officials like Mayor Rahm Emanuel who wants to charge $25 a seat to Taste of Chicago visitors and $40 for a meal.

“How far can you see”? asked Pfleger. He told of how an eye doctor always gives you a test to see how much you can see and how after the first line he just makes up the letters but with confidence.

Preaching on the topic of  “How Far Can You See,” Pfleger said, “Now, while the eye doctor is saying tell me what you can see, Jesus says blessed are those who believe but have not seen.” Belief and faith, Pfleger said, are so very important to God.

Pfleger referred to John 20:19-31 when Jesus, who had been killed on the cross but had risen three-days later, appeared before 11 of the 12 disciples. Thomas, the 12^th disciple, was not present; however, a week later when all 12 of the disciples were once again gathered in a house where the door was locked, Jesus entered and showed Thomas he was indeed alive and that he was Christ.

“There is something about faith.” “The bible tells us it is impossible to please God without faith…. The bible tells us that heaven and earth will pass away but His word shall remain. There is something about faith and the unseen…. “

Pfleger believes the reason some people do not see the greatness of God manifesting in their lives is because of “our lack of belief in the unseen, our Thomas spirit that’s in all of us.”

“We are not experiencing the supernatural. I don’t know about you, but I’m greedy…. I don’t just want to see the natural. I want to touch the divine. I want to walk in the supernatural. I want to do things that where I walk is blessed. I want to touch things and make things change. I want to walk in a room and change the atmosphere….” “You got to see stuff before you see it,” he said.

“Faith is what unlocks the supernatural for us. It’s the key. It reaches into the supernatural and draws it, pulls it, drags it into the natural. Your faith is what runs ahead of you and brings God up into the natural situation,” he explained.

Quoting from Proverbs 29:18 which says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…,” Pfleger said, “I believe why so many of our young people today are perishing…. We can blame the gangs…that’s all pieces of the puzzle, but I believe the reason why so many of our young people are falling and perishing…becoming captives of the traps of the enemy is because they lack vision.”

Pfleger said when youth get caught up in “street stuff,” they have narrowed their vision. “You see what is right in front of you, and you have a narrow and small vision” and together he said that will keep them “locked in the stuff right in front of you instead of all the things that are available to you. That is why we have so many young people being drawn into foolishness,” said Pfleger.

“They are drawn into fighting over corners don’t nobody own. They say, ‘this is our turf,’ Pfleger said, “You don’t have no deed. You ain’t paying rent. You ain’t got a mortgage. What do you mean, this is your turf? They’re fighting over stuff that is not even there’s. It’s small stuff.  They get caught up because of a lack of vision. They are fighting over titles, positions, fighting over chump change.”

Recently, Pfleger told a young man, “Brother, if you’ve been selling drugs for two-years, shouldn’t you have a different shirt than the one you wear every day”?

Alarmed over the recent shooting of 10 people and two who were killed, Pfleger said, “We are hung up on what happened 100-years ago but we don’t care about what is happening on our streets.” He was referring to media reporters about the airing of the movie the Titanic that sank 100 years ago on April 15, 1912.

Saying while he is glad that George Zimmerman is in jail, Pfleger said don’t forget about Trayvon Martin, the victim, and watching to see if justice is done. “Don’t go back to sleep,” he said. Pfleger said there should be enough anger in all of us to say “there will be no more Trayvon Martin’s” in America and no more racism or racial profiling in America or classism.

Alarmed at the number of guns in America, Pfleger said, “We have more guns in America than we have people.” He praised New York City Mayor Bloomberg for supporting a repeal of the controversial “Stand Your Ground” bill he says is nothing more than “shoot first’ laws and a “license to kill.” “You have to have vision,” he said.

And, on the topic of vision, Pfleger said he was filling up his year the other night and became overwhelmed over the price of gas. “You can get overwhelmed by the unemployment in double digits in our community. You can get overwhelmed with schools that are failing. You can get overwhelmed when every day you wake up and you hear about more shootings the night before….

“If you have no vision, you will get overwhelmed and when you get overwhelmed, you become apathetic. You become passive. You become immune.  You become depressed and you shut down. You don’t have time to shut down…. You don’t vote…. When you become hopeless, when you adjust and you begin to accept the conditions around you, that is just what the system wants.

“They want you not to vote. They want you not to go to meetings…. They want you not to call 911 when you see something suspicious. They want you to sit back and adjust to the darkness…. Political structures don’t care if you don’t complain. When you don’t complain about guns, the NRA has 1,000 people a day calling legislators about guns and they get 10 calls from people saying don’t pass conceal carry and 1,000 saying pass it. Who do you think they’re listening to?

“The society, the system wants us to shut down because then they can do exactly what they want to do,” he said.

Pfleger said the mayor’s office called him over the weekend and asked him “what do you think about the taxing of the water of non-profits and what do you think about Taste of Chicago selling $25.00 for the seats”?

Pfleger was referring to Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to charge Taste of Chicago visitors $25 per night for seats at the Petrillo Bandshell and $40 for a three-course meal cooked by top chefs.

Pastor Pfleger had an answer for the mayor’s office: “You want to know what I think? I want to ask everybody to boycott. That’s what I think. Tell the mayor that because maybe when a band comes out and plays and ain’t nobody sitting in the seats, they’ll think twice about charging. That’s a free concert. That’s a park district that we pay for, our taxes. Keep the Park District open. You shouldn’t have to pay for a seat to hear a band play.

“And, as far as water, I told them, OK, he can charge me for water but, I’m going to charge him for the 300 kids in my school we’re educating but getting no government money for, but the 300 kids in Chicago that we’re taking out of the public school system and giving them an education. Oh, yea, we can play this game,” he bellowed.

“Don’t get hopeless. Don’t shut down. The bible says don’t let them break your spirit. You can break my back, but you won’t break my spirit.

“Without a vision, you will perish,” Pfleger told the congregation. “Vision is having the kind of faith that expects and gives spiritual discernment that I see what I see but I see what I see….” Explaining, Pfleger said, “Vision allows me to see what God wants to bring to past in the midst of what the enemy is doing. Vision is seeing possibility and potential in the middle of bareness and drought.”

Referring to a Harris Bank ad on TV where a man looks at his business then picks up a picture frame and sees the expansion of his business, Pfleger told the church, “You have to learn how to pull up a picture frame about your life every now and then to see where you are going and not get stuck where you’re out…. Pick up a picture frame and see where God is taking you while the devil is trying to hold you back.”

Vision, Pfleger, is seeing where you are going and not where you are presently. For example, Pfleger took a trip down memory lane and reminded his members how years ago he led the church down the street and prayed for transformation.

 “There was nothing but a drug motel on Racine. There was nothing but an old abandoned tire shop. Remember, there was nothing but a drug car wash on 79^th Street, but we went out there and began to lay our hands on buildings and said we believe” that a bowling alley would come, a senior housing building would be built a social service office…. We believed that a black restaurant would come like BJ’s.

“Remember when I gave you a bag of seeds and I said once we got rid of all of the bad, we’d go out and throw seeds saying, social service center, restaurant, senior building…. Some of you laughed at me. Some of you called me plum crazy. Some of you called me nuts and said I was out of my mind and you laughed at me. Well, who got the last laugh now,” said Pfleger. “You’re right. I was crazy because I saw things in the picture frame that I could not see in the reality.”

He said when others see youth as a drug dealer, he sees them as a CEO. Pfleger said sometimes you must put your arms around these youth and challenge them to dream again. “Learn how to dust off the dreams of your sisters and brothers and let them see their potential.”

He told of one teacher who had an unruly student, but Pfleger told the teacher to close her eyes and vision that student as graduating with honors. “Vision is being able to see the violence ending while the shooting is going on. You got to see the violence ending. You got to see kids playing in the street. You got to see kids playing in the park…graduating from school…. You have to see a community prospering while it is struggling….

“Vision is seeing yourself in a job while your employer is laying you off. I ain’t having a pity party. I’m getting ready for my next job. I’m glad you let me go because there is somebody waiting for me. Vision is seeing yourself getting up when others are knocking you down….

“Vision is seeing yourself healed when the doctor says you’re sick…. Vision is seeing what God wants to bring to past in the midst of your mess…. Vision is being in the fire and seeing God in the fire with you….. Vision is Jesus on a cross looking at you with all your jacked up self and saying you have possibilities. You are worth dying for…. God has a vision for you. That is what kept him on the cross, his vision….”

“Vision does not allow my circumstances to dictate to my life.  If I’m in a situation, I can close my eyes and say, my vision didn’t see me dying. My vision didn’t see my failing. My vision didn’t see me unworthy. My vision didn’t see me being a failure….”

Pfleger told the church, “You are not dealing with a Moses pastor. I’m not looking where someone is going, I’m a Joshua. I’m going there for myself. Are there any other Joshua people up in here…? “ He told them what ever you are going through is “nothing but a test.” Pfleger then asks some members to come to the altar for a victory dance.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.

Prisoners prayed for her healing

By Chinta Strausberg

Queen Mother Helen Sinclair, retired prison chaplain and executive director of the Jessie “Ma” Houston Prison Ministry of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, held her regular church Sunday service at Statesville in Joliet where an ambulance was called to take her to St. Joseph’s Hospital after she became upset over the way the prisoners were brought into the gym area.

Rev. Sinclair, who is 91-years-old, became anxious because “they were not brought into the area properly. Some of them felt they could talk and visit, but you cannot do that during a worship service. You can’t do this when we bring the Good News to the prison,” she said.

Reached at the hospital, Sinclair said, “I asked them for their permission to have my funeral at Statesville. I started not to come. I was very tired, but I went anyway. The day before, I had gone to Rainbow PUSH and then my friend’s funeral, Rev. Addie Waytt, I was tired.

“When I get Statesville, I always have a wheelchair waiting at the front gate, but this time it was not there; however, Minister Marie Buscemi, found me a wheelchair. That was the beginning of my agitation.

“We have church at Statesville every second Sunday since 1971 when my mother held services there. I became upset because they didn’t bring the people in like they should. They were standing around talking and visiting which is unacceptable behavior in a church.

“If they bring the inmate choir in along with the congregation, (inmates) the choir does not have time to set up. They’re in their milling around but before they finish they have another set of people coming in. Some of them will get in line to go to the bathroom and others will just stand around talking. At that point, the gym, which is our church area, is no longer holy ground,” she called.

“It was chaotic,” said Rev. Sinclair. “Some who were new to our service and who never went to church were talking as if it were a social hour.  I became upset because the prisoners did not come in with the decorum that they should have and that they are capable of. There was a lot of talking and I don’t allow that. I told them they will learn how to conduct themselves to attend any service at mosques, church, synagogue or any other religious edifice,” she said.

While talking to them, she began to see different colors. “At that point, my staff and about 100 brothers came out of their seats, grabbed my hands and began praying. The ambulance came and took me to the hospital. The brothers were cheering me, telling me they loved me and God bless me as I was taken out of the gym to the prison hospital. Later, an ambulance came and took me to St. Joseph Hospital, and I’m still here,” she said.

“After I got sick, a brother was rushed to the hospital, but he is OK. I am worried that I was not able to come to court this past Tuesday for an inmate who is fighting for an appeal.

“I love what I do. The Lord appointed me to do this, and I’ll be back. These are somebody’s sons and daughters, and they will learn how to conduct themselves during church service,” said Sinclair who is anxious to get back to her prison ministry.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.

PHEN launches 4th Annual Father’s Day Rally against prostate cancer in partnership with churches

Boston, MA (BlackNews.com) — The Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN) in partnership with churches nationwide will mobilize its “Fourth Annual Father’s Day Rally Against Prostate Cancer” on Sunday, June 17th, 2012.

“We will increase prostate cancer awareness and knowledge on Father’s Day and establish ongoing relationships with churches and their members to reduce the devastating impact of this disease on African American families,” states Thomas A. Farrington, PHEN president and founder.

The Rally takes place within participating churches on Father’s Day, where prostate cancer survivors within each congregation along with family members of those who have been victims of the disease are recognized and join hands in prayer for healing. “This public recognition and spiritual support helps remove the deadly silence for those who may be suffering which becomes a powerful step towards healing,” according to Farrington, an eleven year prostate cancer survivor

PHEN provides each partnering church with materials for distribution to their members on Father’s Day. Also, as part of its ongoing partnership and support PHEN provides awareness posters, access to its educational resources, speakers, monthly e-newsletters and webcasts. In addition, PHEN enrolls prostate cancer survivors within each church to assist with these ongoing education and awareness efforts. Since 2009 the PHEN Father’s Day Rally has partnered with churches, reaching hundreds of thousands across the country in its initiatives to save lives through increased awareness and knowledge.

Church leaders strongly endorse the Father’s Day Rally.

Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson, Jr., Presiding Bishop for the African Methodist Episcopal Second District, affirms: “Churches within my district will again be active participants in PHEN’s Father’s Day Rally in 2012.”

The 13th AMEC District Presiding Bishop Vashti Mckenzie comments, “My district has enjoyed working with PHEN and our churches will strongly participate in this year’s Father’s Day Rally.”

Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore Sr., President of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) states, “PNBC churches will look to expand their participation in 2012,” and Dr. Jacqueline L. Burton, President of the Conference of National Black Churches (CNBC) says “CNBC’s leadership includes leaders of the nine major Black denominations who will urge their churches to actively engage in PHEN’s Father’s Day Rally and efforts beyond.”

All churches are invited and encouraged to join the PHEN Father’s Day Rally by registering at:
www.prostatehealthed.org/churchregister2012.php

About PHEN:

PHEN is a non-profit 501c3 organization founded in 2003 by Thomas A. Farrington a prostate cancer survivor and author of the books “Battling the Killer Within” and “Battling the Killer Within and winning.” PHEN’s mission includes eliminating the African American prostate cancer disparity and working towards a cure for the disease. Black men in the United States have a prostate cancer mortality rate 2.4 times higher than other men.

“Croquis” by E. S. Coakley portrays the shocking events that led to man’s creation and Lucifer’s banishment from heaven

Alexandria, VA (BlackNews.com) — Croquis by E. S. Coakley tells the story of God’s desire to create man and Lucifer’s consuming jealousy that led to his eventual fall from grace.

In Coakley’s work, in spite of His glorious creations, God’s Son yearns for companionship. Pleased with the majestic beauty of the earth, the dinosaurs and surrounded by angels, He still feels a longing for a different kind of relationship. With this in mind, He desires to create man, a being unlike any other and God’s perfect complement.

However, His desire causes a rift within the Trinity as God the Father is now faced with a horrible choice: deny His Son’s request and see Him lonely and unhappy for all eternity or grant His request and deal with His own heartbreak when His Son must pay the ultimate price to save His beloved creation.

Meanwhile, God’s desire for human companionship is noted by the angels and causes deep resentment in Lucifer, once one of God’s most beloved companions and now, seemingly, an afterthought. Filled with jealousy, Lucifer rebels against God, setting the biblical account of man’s temptation in motion and resulting in everlasting enmity between himself and his Creator.

“My aim is to give readers a glimpse of the Holy Trinity behind the scenes,” Coakley says. “The book allows readers to witness a version of the dramatic events that took place in Heaven, including Lucifer’s thirst for power and rebellion and God’s longing to create man.”

Intended to entertain and offer respectful homage to biblical texts, the book offers a dramatic version of pre-creation events that further explains the relationships between God, man, His Son and the angels. Written for fans of religious and mainstream fiction, the book is designed to be enjoyed by readers of all backgrounds and faith perspectives.

Croquis (ISBN: 1466349417) is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.

About the Author:

E. S. Coakley is a novelist, screenwriter and photographer. Her first notable publication was a fictional narrative in a major New York newspaper at age 12. Coakley went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Coakley is the author of the 2010 science fiction/romance novel “The Specimen” and penned the screenplay for the 2008 horror film “The Spirit Room.” She has also worked as a technical writer for a major technology corporation and as a photographer for clients in the film and education industries. When she is not writing, Coakley enjoys singing and playing her guitars.

Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ESCoakley

Photo Caption: Author E.S. Coakley and bookcover

Washington, D.C.- The National Black Church Initiative declares its support for Pastor Jamal Bryant’s Empowerment Temple’s movement to register 1 million voters on Easter Sunday, April 8th. We commend Pastor Jamal Bryant for his extraordinary leadership in representing the finest tradition of the black church to empower those of us whose backs are against the wall and need to be empowered to use our votes to change our communities.

Reverend Anthony Evans, President of NBCI says: “Pastor Bryant should be commended on this great effort and we intend to work with him until this goal is reached. I have authorized all of our churches to follow the leadership of Pastor Bryant on this issue.”

We keep being reminded that voting is not just essential, it is the essence of a democracy. One vote can count as a million votes when it is cast with power. All Black churches, all 150,000 of us, 34,000 of which are represented by NBCI, should register at least 20 members of their congregations who remain unregistered to vote. Our call as a church community is to make sure everyone is included in the voting process and empowered to make a difference. This voting registration program conforms to NBCI’s Civil Society Initiative.

About NBCI

The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) is a coalition of 34,000 churches working to eradicate racial disparities in healthcare, technology, education, housing, and the environment. NBCI’s mission is to provide critical wellness information to all of its members, congregants, churches and the public. NBCI offers faith-based, out-of-the box and cutting edge solutions to stubborn economic and social issues. NBCI’s programs are governed by credible statistical analysis, science based strategies and techniques, and methods that work. Visit our website at www.naltblackchurch.com.