Real Talk

1)

A book on Mother Theresa's private thoughts and fears

2)

A book that calls the church to focus more on making an impact outside of the church walls as a way of both advancing the gospel and strengthening our hunger for God

3)I'm not sure if he actually ended up performing, but a month or so ago

an Islam-based group protested against R. Kelly performing in the same venue that is used by a Southern California church

Labels: church, Mother Theresa, news, R. Kelly, Southern California

1)

Some thoughts on how we as Christians can witness to Muslims

2)

How Arab Christians are providing a great model for witnessing to Muslims

3)

Some advice on attaining spiritual refreshment through intimate prayer

Labels: Christian, God, Islam, Muslim, news, prayer, witnessing

1)

Lupe Fiasco talks about the motivation and purpose of his new album, "The Cool"

2) For the Matrix fans, here's

a 2003 article about notions of God and spirituality within the Matrix trilogy

3)

Black people uniting to protest against demeaning images in the media

Labels: demeaning images, God, Lupe Fiasco, Matrix, media, music, news, The Cool

1)

The Bush Administration and U. S. policies on torture

2)

The Pentagon violating the Constitution in the name of Christian Evangelism in the military?

3)

How many politicians are banking off of the "fear" doctrine

Labels: Bush, Christian, Constitution, news, politics, torture

Peace and blessings,

Below is some information about a Priest being convicted of some "shady business" in Argentina, Rumsfeld being accused of being responsible for torture, and some astronomers are trying to doing some serious long-distance "calling." Take care, have a blessed day, and speekonit...


1)

Priest Convicted in Argentine "Dirty War" Tribunal

2) American and European rights groups

file a torture complaint

against former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

3) Astronomical observatory specifically designed to

listen for alien beacons

Labels: genocide, news, torture

Peace and blessings,

Below are some examples of modes of thinking that I think provide a positive alternative to many stereotypes that seek to label and confine us. Also, links to these websites have added to the right. What do think of the idea behind the book? The websites? Take care, have a blessed day, and speekonit...





1) Info on the recently released book

More Than Entertainers,

which seeks to provide black youth with an overview of the many different careers that we as black people have, and to encourage them to think about as well as seeing themselves being successful. The book can be purchased through

Black Career Book

2) A

new website

created by a black woman, for women in the ministry.

3) A

website

aimed at altering the common stereotypes of black males.

4) A

website

by a black male who offers information, tips, and resources for black entrepreneurs.

Labels: black, blackout, book, business, careers, entrepreneurs, ministry, More Than Enternainers, news, positive alternatives, sterotypes, thinking outside the box, youth

Peace and blessings,


Below are a few news updates. Please pray for those who have lost homes and/or loved ones during these fires. Also pray for our country. Take care, have a blessed day, and speekonit...



1) The Wildfires that recently hit Southern California

may start to get under control

2) A very insightful article about

the power of fear especially within the U.S.

3) An article about how

God loves as individuals,

and how we can learn to better love ourselves. God is good because earlier this week my friends and I were just talking about doing away with guilt, and forgiving ourselves for our transgressions once God has forgiven us.

Labels: America, fear, God, love, news, prayer, Southern California

Peace and blessings,

The "Activisim," "-isms," and "Misc" sections have been updated. Updated news includes info on the Iraq resolution that just passed in Durango, CO, a video report on military sexual violence, and a report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research report showing the first loss of jobs in the U.S. economy in four years. Take care, keep these and other issues in prayer, and speekonit...

Labels: economic, economy, foreign policy, news, U.S., violence

Peace and blessings,

New articles are available under the "People," "Misc.," and "-isms" sections of the news. Enjoy and speekonit...

Labels: news

Peace and blessings,

This page has moved, and the new address is

speeklife.com

. From this point on, future postings will be viewed on that page only. Thanks to everyone who has visited and commented on my page, and I pray you continue to show love at the new address.

Labels: news

Peace and blessings,

I want to start off by wishing everyone a happy new year, and may God provide for you and your families this year and the years to come. From now one, I will frequently post Christian hip-hop songs from the artists that are in my holy-hip resources section, as well from artists that are not in the section. The jump off features two tracks from Lecrae, "Tha Church" and "I did it for you." These tracks are my favorite songs from each of his albums. Artist and album info is provided in holy-hip resources section. Also, if u have any suggestions of tracks I should post, let me know and i'll see if I can find it. Holla back and speekonit...

Source: www.imeem.com

Labels: Christian hip hop, I Did it for You, Lecrae, news, Tha Church

Peace and Blessings,

I've been meaning to post this story for a few weeks now, but i'm just now getting to it. It is a story about Emmanuel, a man who, while going through Seminary training to work in ministry, found out that he had HIV. It's a compelling story. The link is below, and it is also in the "Christianity" news section. Take care and speekonit...


http://www.urbana.org/_articles.cfm?RecordId=1025

Labels: Christianity, faith, HIV, ministry, news, redemption, seminary

Peace and blessings,

I just realized that as of last Friday (12/08), it has a been one-year since I created this website. I thank God for putting it on my heart to create a space where I could write about things that I am interested in. Also, thank everyone who has visited the site and showed love during the last year. I know God is going to expand this website in major ways. Once I get a domain name, it's a wrap, lol!

In Christ,

Labels: news

Peace and blessings,

I apologize for not giving the page much attention this past week or so, but what can I say? It's finals time. Once the storm is weathered next week, I will be back on my hustle. Until then, here are a couple of treats for you to enjoy. A great friend of mine sent me info on documentary directed by African American teenage girl, and it's about how black women view themselves. The film is entitled "A Girl Like Me." Also, I included a video on a study that was conducted either in 1968 called "eye of the storm." If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it for you by telling you what it's about. Just check it out. I think the study relates to the documentary because the documentary includes the famous doll study, in which children were told to indicate their preferences as to which doll they liked, the black or the white doll. Let me know what you think of these videos, as they raise important questions about how perceptive and malleable young children and adolescents are, and what happens when they are "taught" to devalue themselves and others. Have a blessed weekend and speekonit...




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGDMevuZZVM





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJLUQzwCFIo

Labels: A Girl Like Me, adolescents, African American, children, Eye of the Storm, media, news, race, videos, White

Peace and Blessings,

I included a couple of articles in the "worldwide" news section about the recent beef between Rwanda and France. Some of it stems from the 1994 genocide and some of it stems from more recent incidents. Check it out and speekonit...

Labels: France, genocide, news, Rwanda, world

I've added a couple of articles. One is on the first Chinese person to head a U.N. Agency, and the other is on this expert in the field of education who argues that Education alone cannot solve social problems. The first piece is in the "people" section, and the second piece is in the "education" section. Speekonit...

Labels: Chinese, education, news, people, United Nations

Peace and Blessings,



In recent news, hundreds of letters to God were found in the Atlantic Ocean. The letters were addressed to a minister at a Baptist church, but they were never delivered to him. You can find more info by clicking on the link in the "Christianity" news section. Check it and share your thoughts. Speekonit...

Labels: Christianity, church, God, minister, news

I just came across this and I thought that it was just yet another reminder that God is always around, even when we don't acknowledge it. Apparently there was a cross-shaped beam that survived the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. This cross ended up becoming a symbol for workers, and those who lost loved ones as a source of inspiration. It is currently being moved to a church (St. Peter's) so that construction workers can start rebuilding the towers. The article is included in the "Christianity" news section. I know it's not a coincidence that the source of inspiration that survived the attacks was a cross, and that it is being moved to a churched named St. Peter's. Peter is one of my favorite people in the New Testament, and it seems fitting that this cross, this symbol of stregth, faith, and hope would be moved to a church named after him, seeing that Jesus told him that it is through him (the name "Peter" means rock) that He would build His church. Enough of the connections and symbolism for the day, I gotta move my car before I get a ticket! LOL. Speekonit...

Labels: 9-11, Christianity, cross, God, New Testament, news, Peter, St. Peter's Church, World Trade Center

Peace and blessings,

I'm not sure if folks have been keeping up the the latest news with the E. Coli outbreak, but health officials are warning people to stay away from fresh spinach (spinach from the bag), but i'm going to play it safe and stay away from spinach in general until I hear otherwise. Definately spread the word because the amount of people getting infected and even dying throughout the country is increasing. Also, there is a link to an article on the latest in the "Health News" section. Speekonit...

Labels: E Coli, health, news, Spinach

Peace and blessings,

"Viktory," a Christian hip-hop artist has been added to the section. Check out his info and make sure to listen to tracks off of his album. it's so sincere! Speekonit...

Labels: Christian hip hop, news, Viktory

Peace and Blessings,

I know my updates have been sparse as of late, but blame the mind not the heart. Been on my academic grind lately plus traveling. Anyway, I'm back like I left something, and I wanted to direct your attention to the two newest additions to the "archives" section. With all of the negative press currently in the media, especially as it relates to people of color, it' s good to hear of stories where God is obviously present. Yesterday I came across the article about the young girl who testified against the person who shot her. The image of her on aol.com had her crying, and initially I didn't want to click the link. My spirit has recently been grieved with all of the "bad" news I've been exposed to lately, and I felt like I couldn't take reading another article about a young child suffering. However, the "her words might surprise you" part of the link caused me to click on it to read about what happened. Apparent this beautiful young girl was hit by a bullet fired during a shootout when she was 3 years old, and is now paralyzed for life. Now five years old, she confronted the shooter in court and after telling him that what he did to her was horrible, she broke out in tears before replying with "but I still forgive you." I was blown away that a five year old who was the victim of a terrible crime and is paralyzed for life can do something that we as adults fail to do all the time. The power of forgiveness is not just manifested in the way in which the "forgiver" can now move on with their life. Forgiveness is also and more importantly a transformative act that changes the way in which the perpetrator, regardless of the offense, views the moral implications of their actions. The bible's emphasis on forgiveness (e.g. many of Jesus' healings were in the form of forgiving people of their sins) reflects one of the many ways that things work out for good for those who believe. In particular, God's love and transformative power can be revealed even during times when our choices have detrimental affects on others. I believe that being confronted by his victim and then forgiven by her, especially seeing the severity of the bullet's impact and the fact that she is only five, resulted in some sort of "transformation" for the perpretrator.
The other article I wanted to speak on briefly was the one about the father finding his daughter after 13 years. There are not really any implications I can draw out of this situation as with the one mentioned above, therefore I can do is thank God and give Him the glory. There is no doubt in my mind that people were constantly praying for him and his family and that he be reunited with his daughter. With all that is going on, it;s a blessing to come across stories like these where the only explanation of the outcomes (e.g. how can a five year old who has suffered so much take the moral and spirtual high road and forgive her shooter? How can a father who has not seen or heard from his daughter in 13 years since she was deemed missing now have the opportunity to reunite with her next week?) point to the Lord Almighty. Until next time, continue to, and always, let's continue to pray for out friends, families, communities, and for situations we may not be directly tied to, because if it's one thing i've recently realized is that prayer not only works, it is revolutionary! Speekonit...

Labels: Bible, daughter, father, forgiveness, girl, God, moral, news, prayer, reunited

Peace and Blessings,

A few updates have been made to the website section. Among those are links to websites of the Ambassador and DA Truth, two of the hottest Christian Hip-Hop artists this side of Heaven. The Ambassador has a degree in Theological Studies, and his website includes sermons he's performed, articles he's written, and other things related to his youth ministry. DA Truth's website has info on a national he's apart of in collaboration with Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary, called the "Hero" Tour. Also, there's a link to the "Realize the Dream" website, which approaches youth education from a wholistic, developmental approach. Enjoy, stay blessed, and speekonit...

Labels: Ambassador, Christian hip hop, Da Truth, Hero, Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, news, Theology