Bible Study
Nana Dolce
Why We Remember Lot’s Wife

Lot’s wife belonged to a family with a great name and trust in God’s promises. She even had angels visit her home! God sent them to personally escort her from His coming wrath to His safety (Gen.19:1-22). Yet, she fell into eternal judgment because she looked back to her life in Sodom. She longed to preserve what she had and became a pillar of salt–a crystalline substance used for preservation (Gen. 19:26). Friends, Jesus is kind to warns us in Luke 17:32-33: “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”

Why We Remember Lot’s Wife
Bible Study, The Gospel
Nana Dolce
Prayers Rising Like a Sweet Aroma

Cornelius’ conversion account can teach us many things about the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles in the first century church. We see in this story that God’s salvation through Christ is for all the families of the earth. God shows no partiality but comes to redeem people from all nations. All this is true. But my focus today is on that small line in verse four. It makes me wonder: what if my service and prayers to God were like a memorial offering rising up as a pleasing aroma before His throne? 

Prayers Rising Like a Sweet Aroma

Outside Posts

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Black Women in Church History: Elizabeth Keckley

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Elizabeth Keckley was many things in her lifetime--a slave, a mother, a dressmaker, a free business owner, a White House regular, a companion of Mary Lincoln, and a Christian. Her book, Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House, spins a tale of tribulations and perseverance.

It’s been said that “the greatest miracle of the Reformation is that enslaved Africans...imprisoned in a foreign land and surrounded by hostile wilderness, heard with clarity the learned oracles of Christ, [and] were spiritually set free.” If the black church is a  miracle, then Keckley’s life is a beautiful example of how slavery could never overcome the enduring faith of those redeemed by God in Christ.

Ava DuVernay’s 13th Explores the Troubling Roots of Mass Incarceration

Ava DuVernay’s 13th Explores the Troubling Roots of Mass Incarceration

Mark Twain’s ability to make sweeping social commentary through unassuming characters is on display throughout his classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel’s protagonist, Huck, assists a runaway slave named Jim without much abolitionist thought. Huck has no issues with the institution of slavery and maintains his cultural assumptions of slaves even as he helps one escape.

Nevertheless, Huck’s conscience suffers at times from his collaboration with Jim. In one instance, he finds Jim moaning to himself. He doesn’t wonder why -- he knows Jim misses his wife and children. Still, Huck tells the reader, “I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for ther’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so.”  

That scene always moves me. Jim, who runs away to escape being sold from his family, thinks of them and mourns. His pipe dream in freedom was to work for the purchase of his loved ones. But at this point in the book, the journey seems dubious and his hope fades. Huck notices his grief and marvels at a black man longing for his family in the same way a white person might -- and deems it unnatural.

Full article at Christ and Pop Culture.

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Secondary Infertility: Trusting God when Pregnancy Stops

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Secondary Infertility: Trusting God when Pregnancy Stops

My husband and I are the thankful parents of two precious daughters. We would be grateful for a third child and have prayed for over two years for this gift without conception.

I’m technically infertile with what is known as secondary infertility. Here, a couple that has already produced, at least one child, will suddenly face difficulty conceiving another. In most cases, couples are considered infertile after a year of trying without conception.

Both motherhood and the desire for more children have proved useful instruments in God’s hands, dissecting and revealing my heart. As I kneel today to pray for a third child, here are three truths that resound:

 

Human-Aminal Chimeras: Kramer’s Pigman Might Be Coming to a Lab Near You

Human-Aminal Chimeras: Kramer’s Pigman Might Be Coming to a Lab Near You

The National Institutes of Health is looking to fund research that infuses human stem cells into early animal embryos, creating a human-animal organism known as a chimera, a being composed of two or more genetically distinct species. The decision prompts many questions: for one, "what are we doing by mixing the traits of two species? What makes us human? Is it having 51 percent human cells?"

We cannot be unsure regarding the question of humanity. God distinguishes man and woman from all creation with the gift of His image. And it is the weight of that gift that defines our distinct dignity as human beings. How then do we engage with the possibility of part-human, part-animal lifeforms?

I'm grateful to tackle this topic at Christ and Pop Culture. And I'm always grateful for your read and thoughts. 

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Evangelism, What do I say? - A Summary of the Gospel of Christ

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Evangelism, What do I say? - A Summary of the Gospel of Christ

To evangelize is to share the message of the gospel. Our acts of service and mercy glorify God and are encouraged by Scripture (see James 1:27). Yet simply serving another is not evangelism. Evangelism requires words. It necessitates a message. And in truth, many of us do not always know what to say. What is the gospel? How does the Bible define it? Let’s look now at the below four-point-summary; I hope the following proves helpful as we seek to faithfully share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others!

Finding Our Hopefuls When Caught by Giant Despair

Finding Our Hopefuls When Caught by Giant Despair

It’s fascinating here to consider Gethsemane. Jesus’ soul was sorrowful to the point of death. He retreats—but not alone. He takes three friends with Him, and His request is that they remain awake and pray with Him. If the sinless Savior desired community in a time of suffering, how much more do we need friends? And surely this includes our pastors, elders, small group leaders, and those we tend to elevate and distance as more spiritual.

As a member of a church staff and a teacher of women, I have never stayed in Doubting Castle (to say so would be to minimize the torture of those who have), but I have strolled its grounds. I have known sudden and unexpected sadness, and my heart has pounded from the ache of anxiety. In these moments, I long for my Hopeful, a fellow pilgrim who will love me at my best and at my worst. A friend with whom I can be vulnerable and weak and not fear, because their love for me rests on the work of Someone greater than I. I’m thankful to share this level of candor with my husband but my soul yearns for more. I’m praying for friends who will receive me in my imperfection, knowing that another Person has been perfect on my behalf.

Read full article at Christ and Pop Culture. 

Do racial issues really “disappear” because of the Gospel? A response to John MacArthur.

Do racial issues really “disappear” because of the Gospel? A response to John MacArthur.

MacArthur is valiant for the truth. As a younger preacher, he was among the 334 evangelical leaders who gathered in Chicago in 1978 to formulate the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. Just a decade into his pastorate, MacArthur joined luminaries including J. I. Packer, Francis Schaeffer, and R. C. Sproul to defend Biblical inerrancy against liberalism’s assaults. Since then, he has remained steadfastly orthodox in his passion for the Scriptures. I’m thankful to say that my own theological formation has benefited greatly from his confident preaching.

So when The Master’s Seminary — of which MacArthur is president — released a YouTube video titled “Racism and Black Lives Matter” on July 8, 2016, I expected a strong application of the Gospel to today’s polarizing racial issues. What I heard instead was disappointing.

Read the full article at Christ and Pop Culture

Happy Single Parent Day: The Dynamics of Parenting Alone

Happy Single Parent Day: The Dynamics of Parenting Alone

My mother and father never married. I spent the first seven years of my life with my aunt, a single mother. I’ll spare you the details of my story and will simply say that I know what it’s like to yearn for a parent. I’ve tasted the bitterness that often hangs around a broken home. I’ve lingered near a weary mother, wishing I could share the load.

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

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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.

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Abortion: A Time to Mourn and a Time to Speak

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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!