Outside Posts

After Childhood Abuse, How Can I Trust Others with My Kids?

After Childhood Abuse, How Can I Trust Others with My Kids?

My first day watching porn was also my last. I was nine when an adult neighbor took me to a house where several of her friends were gathered. The men and women came knowing the agenda—to watch hours of pornographic videos. I was placed on a man’s lap, and the tapes were played. At one point, my neighbor asked if I “felt” anything. I said no, and the group laughed.

I remember the day now as the end of something immeasurably precious—the gift of being innocent and unashamed. I’ve often mourned for my nine-year-old self, her soul plundered and her naiveté stripped. I grieve for her and fear for my two small daughters. What images (and God forbid, touches) might be lurking, waiting to take their innocence? God help us.

Read the full article at Christianity Today.

Bringing the Prairie to the Hood

Bringing the Prairie to the Hood

I'm excited to write an article for Christ and Pop Culture on the "anomaly" of watching Little House on the  Prairie in Southeast Washington DC. A paragraph is below and the full article is HERE.  Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

I live in Southeast Washington, D.C., where the population is 94% black. Watching Little House  in “the hood” is a bit of an anomaly. In fact, with the exception of my husband and three others, I can’t name another black person who would be excited to watch the show. One friend told me that she would watch only if forced. People in our D.C. church laugh when we speak of our love for the program–they assume it’s a joke. Their looks become a mixture of surprise and amusement when we persist in our praise of the series. 

‘The Cosby Show': Black Image and Respectable Idols

‘The Cosby Show': Black Image and Respectable Idols

At some point, The Cosby Show became more than a sitcom; it morphed into a barometer with which to measure success for blacks. But perhaps that was its intention from the beginning. When network executives Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner first pitched the idea of the sitcom to NBC, Cliff Huxtable was a limousine-driving father with a stay-at-home wife and four school-aged children. But before the pilot was shot, Cosby had painted a striking new mural for producers.

Abortion: A Time to Mourn and a Time to Speak

Abortion: A Time to Mourn and a Time to Speak

As a member of the Black church, it seems we have passed by to the other side of the road too often on this issue. Where is the outrage? And where is our heartbreak for the little faces missing from our own congregations? I’m sorry to say that, before today, I had never cried for the children aborted in my church. Who is missing today who may have stood next to my own daughter to declare: “God made me!”

The Boiling Frog - A Look at Marriage and the Black Church

The Boiling Frog - A Look at Marriage and the Black Church

Grateful for my article this week at the Reformed African American Network. It reflects on the Black Church and her response to the same-sex marriage debate. The first few paragraphs follow. I hope that you will take a look at the full post. Thank you as always!

Many of us have heard of the “boiling frog” anecdote. The idea is this: put a frog in blistering hot water and it will instinctively jump out. However, place it in cool water with gradual temperature increases and the frog will remain in its place, absolutely unaware of the danger until it’s too late.

This metaphor illustrates people’s general tendency to challenge abrupt change while nonchalantly adjusting to slow moving drifts. In some ways, the image brings to mind the Black Church and its reaction to the cultural redefinition of marriage.

Al-Shabbab, Christian Persecution and Psalm 23

Al-Shabbab, Christian Persecution and Psalm 23

Persecution of African (and Middle-Eastern) Christians continues to increase, as does the gradual cultural degradation of historic Christianity in the west. This post, shared through the Reformed African American Network, is my prayer to the LORD, our Great Shepherd. May He raise His rod and staff high and bring comfort to His persecuted flock around the world. He is the God of both our green pastures and our shadowy valleys. 

Biblical Orthodoxy & the Disqualification of Christians from Public Service

Speaking on January 14 on his daily podcast, “The Briefing,” Dr. Albert Mohler asks, “Just how much of historic Christianity, especially in terms of its moral teaching concerning sexuality, must someone disbelieve in order to be qualified according to this new standard for public service or public influence?”

A Time to Speak and a Time to Love Neighbors like they Matter

A Time to Speak and a Time to Love Neighbors like they Matter

My husband and I live east of the Anacostia River in Washington D.C. The area, roughly 20 square miles in size, is over 90 percent black. A single IHOP and a Denny’s serve as its major full-service restaurants. There are no high-end department stores, but discount clothing and dollar stores can be found. There are no movie theaters, few parks, and a dusting of grocery stores. There are no colleges, but plenty of liquor stores.

The Glorious Condescension of the Incarnation

I had the pleasure of writing a Christmas post for the Reformed African American Network. You can find the article, entitled the Glorious Condescension of the Incarnation, here. Hope you are able to read.

May the Lord bless you as you gaze on the glorious mystery of the incarnation this advent season. Be astounded by the humility of our LORD and adore Him!