Sometime last week, I came across an article on the internet that said Beyonce can’t attend church because her fame won’t allow her to worship publicly. In the article, Beyonce says, “I can’t really go to church anymore, which is a shame. People have come up to me in church during the sermon and, of course, people watch everything I do. They come up and take pictures on their mobile phones too. They are very nice, but I think God understands if I miss Sunday service!” My initial thought after reading this article was: What??!!! This is pure foolishness! But then I thought, well I should give her the benefit of the doubt. I mean everyone should be able to worship in peace, right? You should be able to go to church without worrying about who’s watching you or taking your picture unknowingly, right? Then I thought again: What???!!!! How many celebrities attend church knowing they’ll have fans there? Uhm, let me see if I can name a few: Denzel Washington, President Clinton, Samuel Jackson, Barack Obama, etc.

I think that if you reallly want to go to church and worship, then you’ll go (keeping in mind that you do not have any disabilities that would prevent you from going). On the other hand, if you really don’t want to go, then you’ll make excuses and/or rationalize as to why you can’t or shouldn’t go. I’ll be the first to admit that TV ministers (i.e. Joel Olsteen, TD Jakes, etc.) can give you a Word here and there. But, I don’t agree with not going to Church simply because you’re famous. I know some people are going to say it’s her personal choice — and it is. However, I question her rational for this decision. It would make more sense to me if she said something like ‘my relationship with God is not quite right, right now.’ Something along those lines. What’s your take on Miss Beyonce and her stance on not attending church?

There’s a new book that’s just been released called, Hiding in Hip Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry–from Music to Hollywood.  This book covers the secret homosexual activity in the entertainment business, from a Black male who has worked in the entertainment industry.  Supposedly, this book does not name names, but thinly veils some well-known R&B and rap artists as ‘down low brothas.’  For those who are unfamiliar with this term, it pertains to a Black male who is gay, but has not come out of the closet.  My first question is: Why, when we hear the term down low brotha, is it associated only with Black males?  Is it because of the word brotha?  Are there any White males on the down low? What about Latin males? Asian males?  Okay, I digress, back to the book.

People are really trying to guess who this author is referring to when he describes certain R&B and rap artists.  Some people have guessed Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, Diddy, Will Smith, Marques Houston, Omarion, 50 Cents, etc.  Here’s the website that features this story:  http://www.bossip.com/17989/a-bossip-exclusive-hiding-in-hip-hop-the-down-low-brothas/#comments.  What’s your take on it?

This week, ex-press secretary Scott McClellan released a book titled ‘What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.’ McClellan was the White House press secretary for two years and nine months. This book was not flattering to President Bush at all. In the book, President Bush is described as “a leader unable to acknowledge that he got it wrong, and unwilling to grow in office by learning from his mistake — too stubborn to change and grow.” I have to say I agree, but that’s because I’m not a Bush fan. But there is someone who is: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Is anyone surprised that she defended President Bush against ex-press secretary Scott McClellan? I, for one, am not. This lady has so much loyalty towards President Bush. In McClellan’s book, he states Condoleezza “was more interested in figuring out where the president stood and just carrying out his wishes while expending only cursory effort on helping him understand all the considerations and potential consequences of war.”

On one hand, I think it’s admirable that Condoleezza remains loyal to President Bush, no matter what. But, on the other hand, I can’t help but to wonder why? Why does her loyalty run so deep? What’s your Buzz on this?

My husband and I are expecting our first child so I have been reading up on the controversy concerning vaccinating childen. This is some distrubing stuff. To think that more and more people believe that vaccinations play a huge factor in children developing Autism, Asperger’s, ADD, ADHD, etc. is not something a new mother wants to hear. Some people say DON’T DO IT! Others say trust your doctor – they know what’s best. Then, there are those who say, spread the vaccines out, over time. A friend of mine just told me her son has Asperger’s and she truly believes it’s from him being vaccinated early on as a baby. She’s referred me to books, websites, etc. and she told me to do all the research that I can. But then, I have other friends who say they followed what their children’s doctors said, and they haven’t had any problems, but they have girls. I have read that Autism affects boys more than girls. I know people, especially parents, feel very strongly about this. Just when I decided to blog about this, I received my Time magazine with the cover story being: The Truth About Vaccines. How convenient for me, right?

Time magazine states the following: By the age of 2, children will receive 28 vaccination doses, which is what is recommended by the CDC; 77% of kindergartners in the US are up to date on their vaccinations; 2% – 3% of school age US children have received an exemption from vaccinations; scientists do not believe vaccinations cause autism; as families forgo immunizations, cases of measles are on the rise. As far as I’m concerned, all of this information is overwhelming. How do you feel about it?

Welcome to Wednesday! Every Wednesday we will have an article dealing with the bible – bible class if you will. The Internet is used for all manner of evil.  This will serve as an opportunity to reach those who otherwise may miss this word.  Let me stop right there before I start preaching instead of teaching – LOL – (God is OK with a sense of humor).  Let’s get to it!

Colossians 3:2-4

Note the two reasons why we are to seek the things of Christ and of heaven: because we are dead, and our lives are hid with Christ in God.

a. The believer is dead. He is not actually dead; he still lives upon earth. But God counts the believer dead in the death of Christ. When Christ died, the believer died—right along with Christ in God’s mind. God counts it so, and whatever God counts so, it is a fact. Therefore, the believer is actually dead in God’s mind. This means a significant fact: a dead man cannot sin, for a dead man no longer lives for this earth. He lives for the next world.

Thought 1. Since we are dead, we are to seek the things of Christ and of heaven.

b. The believer is hid with Christ. What does this mean? It means that God counts the believer hid in the resurrection and life of Christ. When Christ arose, He arose to a new life, not to His old life. He had just died to the old life once for all. Therefore, when the believer is said to be hid in Christ, it means that God counts the believer risen with Christ. God counts the believer as risen to a new life. God sees the believer hid in Christ day by day. God sees him walking in Christ and in Christ’s righteousness. And because he is in Christ, the believer sets his mind upon things above, upon the things of Christ and of heaven. He sets his mind and life upon things that please Christ.
An excellent illustration of what it means to be “hid with Christ” is this: take the index finger of your right hand and wrap your left hand around it. Say that the index finger represents you and the left hand represents Christ. Where are you (the index finger)? In Christ. You are hid in Christ. Christ is the only life, the only body that is seen by God and that is to be seen by the world.

Thought 2. When you are hid in Christ…

• Christ is the only life that God sees as living.  Christ is your life in the eyes of God, the life in which you live.
• You live and move and have your being and roam around in the life of Christ. You are hid in the life of Christ. You are not seen living and moving, for you are hid in Christ. Christ is the only life, the only body that is seen by God and that is to be seen by the world.

Do you remember those ads about LifeLock, the company that’s supposed to protect you from identity theft? In the ads, the owner revealed his own social security number and dared identity theft thieves to try and steal his identity. Well, it seems that Lifelock failed its owner. Todd Davis, Lifelock’s owner has had his identity stolen by a guy in Texas. Now the company is being sued by various customers who say the service he provides fails. You think!!! There are so many companies that state they can protect us from identity theft. Who do you believe? Or do we just continue to make sure we shred every single piece of mail we get to ensure the dumpster divers don’t get our information? What do we do?

According to the site, What Is Social Networking?, social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision…if you will.

The Internet has become a popular place to participate in social networking with an endless amount of sites to choose from. The Internet affords many people options that they wouldn’t have otherwise when it comes to branching out socially. You can (sort of) meet anyone around the world with some of the same interests as you and if you feel like it a totally arbitrary group of “friends.”

Of course we all know about the big boys MySpace and Facebook, at least you probably do if you are reading this article. Did you know there are sites that cater to the following crowds: European jet set and social elite, Zimbabwean community, clubbing (primarily UK), book lovers, Muslim social networking, online volunteering and many more? It seems like there is a category to fit whatever someone could want, and here is where the problems could begin.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who are evil and use anything at their disposal to carry out all sorts of disgusting activities. You should know what I’m getting at when I associate evil with social networking: online predators. The Microsoft article, Online Predators: Help Minimize the Risk, says, “Predators establish contact with kids through conversations in chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail, or discussion boards. Many teens use peer support online forums to deal with their problems. Predators often go to these online areas to look for vulnerable victims. Online predators try to gradually seduce their targets through attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts, and often devote considerable time, money, and energy to this effort. They’re aware of the latest music and hobbies likely to interest kids. They listen to and sympathize with kids’ problems. They also try to ease young people’s inhibitions by gradually introducing sexual content into their conversations or by showing them sexually explicit material. Some predators work faster than others, engaging in sexually explicit conversations immediately. This more direct approach may include harassment or stalking. Predators may also evaluate the kids they meet online for future face-to-face contact.”

Parents and concerned citizens, what do you have to say about this problem?  I want to hear your opinions, we need to hear your opinions on this sad problem we have in our society.  What are you doing to protect your children?  Yeah, yeah, they think they should have a certain level of privacy, but what are we willing to risk by giving children the privacy necessary to allow someone to attempt to start an online relationship with them?  Let’s hear it.

Today is Monday and on Mondays we will talk about general news. Something normally happens over the weekend, whether good or bad, to keep us occupied for at least one day. So, like Marty Mart always said (Martin Lawrence show if you didn’t know) What’s up?!
Gas prices people! What is really going on with gas prices? My personal opinion, you knew you would get that, is that it is all a scam. If something happens with oil here, gas prices go up. If something happens with the war, gas prices go up. Now, today an oil pipeline in Nigeria was attacked and you guessed it, oil prices went up which will probably mean gas prices will go up. According to an article on USA Today, oil rose above $133 a barrel today on persistent worries about global petroleum supplies and the outlook for the US economy and dollar. Let me translate that for you: if anything happens in the world that impacts oil, the per barrel price will go up and we will feel it at the pumps. Only in America!

Now we know that the price of virtually everything goes up as a result of higher gas prices…virtually everything except our paychecks! We pay more for gas, more for food and more for other goods, but our checks remain the same. In my (sometimes simple) mind that means we will gradually become a poorer nation. When I say we I mean the average person because I really feel as though some people take advantage of this hike in gas prices. For instance, if I sold widgets and I was forced to raise the price because the trucks that deliver my widgets are impacted by higher gas prices, what is to keep me from adding an extra nickel per widget for myself? This could happen all the time and we might not even know about it.

I want to hear what you have to say about this. I feel a part two coming on already – we have to talk about SUVs.

It has been so long since all the charges were filed, it is almost like we forgot about it. After all this time, the R Kelly trial finally started and I need to be refreshed on all the details of the case. I know he is basically accused of having sex with a teenager, but the other details are just a memory to me.

One reason it is hard to remember has to do with the time between then and now, but also the fact that like has seemingly went on with R Kelly like nothing has happened. I mean, it isn’t like he hasn’t kept making records with this looming over his head. Shouldn’t there be some rule where we (society) doesn’t support someone who has allegedly committed such a heinous crime? Why didn’t someone arrange a boycott or something – where is Al when you really need him? We are partly to blame when someone is a potential criminal and it takes so long to get to the bottom of it all. Why couldn’t we demand the investigation and trial take place immediately? If it turns out that he was guilty all along we should all feel sort of guilty for supporting him during this time; it is almost as if we indirectly helped pay his lawyers.

One thing that isn’t going to help R is the fact that the prosecutors will trot out the marriage to a then 15-year old sensation Aaliyah. There are pictures of the two of them together and everything. How is that for proving a pattern of this behavior. Poor guy. He must just have a problem with the youngsters.

Having sex with a minor is way different then going into a strip club and making it rain or failing to pay a gambling debt. We should have demanded action before now. It isn’t really our fault, but this is something we shouldn’t stand for! What do you think?

Every day, we render judgment on someone just because they don’t act like us, talk like us, think like us, etc.  In fact, more times than not, we treat this person as an outcast; or as someone who is weird; or as someone we don’t have time for.  But is that the right thing to do?  In the NIV Bible, Proverbs 30:12-13 refers to those “who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their own filth; those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful.”  To me, these scriptures refer to someone who focuses on other people’s differences (or flaws), but minimizes their own to feel better about themselves.  I do not want to be this type of person; therefore, I am constantly reminding myself that God will sometimes bring people into my life to expose me to something other than what I am accumstomed to; to expose me to things that I am not aware of; or better yet, to elevate me to the next level.  I have to admit, there have been many times I have failed to recognize the hidden blessings that someone different from me presented.  But as I get older, I’m learning to not just focus on the obvious.  I am learning to look beyond the ‘outer’ presentation that we, as humans, typically focus on.  I am learning to recognize the opportunities, and/or knowledge that people who think differently from me can bring to my life.  I’m also starting to recognize that maybe; just maybe, God is using me as an example (good or bad) to help and/or guide someone who thinks, acts or believes differently than me.