Right and wrong

I came across this video on the YouTube Website when I was searching for a clip of 'The Tyra Banks show' when she talks about becoming westernised for the modelling world.
Instead of being able to get that clip, I came across this one. The title read, 'Tyra stands up for her gay friends'. I saw it and thought, oh ok, thats interesting let me have a look, sounds deep.
Whilst watching it, I questioned myself on the topic and then asked God about it.

I thought it was very brave for the the Phelps family to go on national TV to tackle such a controversial issue from the view of a Christian. I think that their intent is right, they want people to know about God as God has asked. I think where they may have gone sideways on the matter is on their approach, they did not appear very loving, which is opposite to what God wants us to be.

Mark 12:31 says 'And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.'

My take on the disscussion and how it played out is that a lot of what is said from the Phelps is biblically correct, their approach however is not a good one. Sometimes they came across as a bit aggressive and i don't think that this is a sound representation of God.

Following Jesus is not about being better than others or being perfect, it's about giving your ways over to God and letting Him be your guide and ruler of your life. We shouldn't judge or discriminate either.

However Tyra's reactions are expected and I wasn't surprised at them. The bible explains that non-Christians will disagree with the word of God and it will be foolishness to them.
1 Cor 2:14
'But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'

Tyra has been known to be very giving and kind to her fans and audiences, she has a sort of 'spiritual' moral side to her. At some moments in her shows she may mention God and his blessings etc. But funnily enough on this occassion when she is part of a heated and controversial disscussion she doesn't seem to regard God at all.

1 Timothy chapter 3:5 'Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.'

However, she has a few points that are considerable, like when she asks the two daughters why they watch ANTM if they are against homosexuality, that question seems to stall them.
This takes me to the scripture below:

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15

According to Gods word, this is what He says about homosexuality:

'For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.' Romans 1:26-27

I know i'm bombarding this comment with scriptures but I want to show you what the bible says, it's not good enough for me to just say things. (which could be misinterpreted as my own perceptions)

Foundamentally, I do agree that homosexuality is wrong, but my approach to the whole issue would be to love those who are like that and pray for them. Pointing the finger is judgemental and worthless because it's like something I heard the other day when you point at someone there are four fingers pointing back at you.

What do you think?

A piece of Heaven

Reading Christian Minister Mignon Murrells accounts of Angels, Gods word and Healing really encouraged me. I felt a piece of heaven when I read it, it is anointed.Questions that I've had in my mind were answered through her sharing her experiences. This site is very encouraging and i'm glad I came across it.
Highly recommended.

The not so fairytale

I remember when I use to get lost watching Cinderella.
The happy, magical parts were my favourites. Like when she is transformed into the 'bell of the ball' and is given a horse and carriage by her fairy God mother.

I'd imagine that when I grew up I'd have the fairy tale life, a charming prince who'd marry me, live in a really big mansion and have lots of money. My fantasy didn't include bad moments or sad times.

But hang on, didn't Cinderella lose her mother, then her father and was taken in by her evil step mother? She was treated like a servant by her step mother and her 'ugly' step sisters tormented her like crazy.

So why is it that we wear fairytale tinted glasses and totally ignore the struggles we saw in our favourite films by focusing on the magical ending?

Remember, Cinderella had her share of problems too.
So did Snow White, Bambi, Simba, Ariel and a whole cast of other Disney characters. Whether they'd lost a parent, their entire family,their soul or their soul mate, all of them had to endure heart ache, struggles and pain before they got to the best part of their lives and were happy again.

But did you notice how much happier they were when trial and tribulations are over?
"Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning" Psalm 30:5

It's as if by going through lifes challenging times not only helps us to appreciate what we have and how much we value people but it makes us realise that God has better plans for our lives and that nothing we go through is in vain or lasts forever, even though it may feel like you're trapped and things won't ever change.

God loves us now, tommorow and forever. He never changes.

In the testing situations we face, we need to take time to realise that we can make it through. You have to tell yourself that there will be a day when it'll all be over and you'll think, 'how did I ever make it through without having a nervous breakdown, go into depression or commit suicide?

Thank God each and everyday. He is worthy and He is able.

Just as Hercules was sent to earth to save the world. Jesus did the same.

God sent Him to show the vulnerable, imperfect people that we are, how to live, how to love and how to regain the lost relationship with God that we once had.

He is our Salvation in those times when crying is all we could do. We don't even know who to talk to because we feel that 'no one understands...God is listening.

We are not our hair, but we should be proud of it

Black women are always talking about hair, it's our crown and glory. like many women I too have gone through dozens of hairstyles from the curly perm to the cornrow. Whether you have long , short , thick, thin or soft hair, this issue always seems to crop up in conversation. I'm sure many of you can relate to me when I say hair has been an issue since our childhood because according to our parents we are representing them.

Appearance was everything and still is everything....

As we know slavery has a lot to do with how we see our selves in modern society. I know many people may think that, that was centuries ago, well it was, but the psychological aftermath of it can still be seen in how black people see themselves today.

I've always had discussions on what the good hair, bad hair thing is all about with my best friend and we both have come to the same conclusions. Good hair is opposite to the norms of the black hair, straight and commercial. Well to me this sounds all too similar to European hair, which ironically, we could never posses. This is why black sites which insistently preach black roots and black struggles in society and refers to black hair as 'tuff, unmanageable, kinky' etc gets me annoyed because they give a negative connotation to the make up of our hair (therefore pointing to a standard of hair) instead of encouraging black women on how to love their hair and themselves.

I came across the blog site 'The Angry Black Woman' which covers cultural, cosmetic, social etc issues concerning black women from an opinionated point of view. This site has some good elements to it. The writer discusses her personal experience of her hair from childhood to adulthood. She also confronts the good hair, bad hair terminology that we use and she's honest about how she feels about her own hair.
One thing that I don't like about this, is that although her blog reads well and there are elements which any black woman could identify with, towards the end i feel that she re-iterates what we are trying to get away from. In the beginning she states her struggles of dealing with her hair and then at the end she almost seems enlightened when she finds out that she actually has 'white girl hair'. It's worrying and concerning, because it shows how confused we are about our identity.

One day during my sophomore year I stepped out of the shower, looked in the mirror, and noticed something extraordinary. Half of my hair was wavy. Really wavy. Trying to be curly. This was the top half, the bottom half was straight - leftover from my last relaxer, so many months before. I never knew that my hair was wavy/curly, I always thought it was just bushy, kinky, and untamable.

What else was I supposed to think? I had black people's hair.Good hair, certainly, because it was thick and styleable. But certainly not
I decided to let my natural hair grow out to see what it really looked like. The result: I have fabulous hair, y'all. I have, naturally, the hair I always dreamed of having. It curls in coils/ringlets and will either curl in big locks or small sections, giving me a modicum of control over the amount of body it has. I have white girl hair.

I appreciate her honesty, as she's saying things that a lot of black woman are probably afraid to say, but at the same time she's giving mixed messages to her readers. It's as if she's saying that for most of her life she had to 'deal' with her natural hair instead of embrace it and as soon as she found out her hair was curlier and wavier it was like 'a breath of fresh air'- she no longer had to deal with the 'burden' of having natural black hair.This again is just another representation of how confused we can be as a race, like many say, we have been westernised and as a result we've been taught what beauty should look like- and it's everything but being black with thick hair.
She even notices this herself.

Now wait a damn minute, you're saying. Didn't we just go over black people's hair esteem issues and didn't you basically express an opinion that wanting hair like white people's is bad? I did, yeah. But that's an intellectual view of the situation. Emotionally, I was so happy to have white girl hair I flaunted it all over the place. I found the perfect product to keep it from going over into frizzyness and proceeded to flip, play with, and highlight the merits of my hair every chance I got. I went a little crazy for a while

This exhausts me and perplexes the issue even more.

My take on the whole issue is that I disagree with the good hair bad hair thing, it's like saying if your hair isn't a certain texture, have more defined curls, then this means you have bad hair. At the end of the day your hair condition comes down to maintenance. If you don't look after your hair, eat properly or generally look after yourself then your hair will show it. Obviously different genetics equals equals different people with different hairtypes. But why should there be a standard? Why should black woman aspire to have hair that only Latinos, whites and Asians have? There is absolutely nothing wrong with black hair, it's abundant, full bodied and beautiful. We need to focus on our self esteem and confidence then hopefully we'll learn to love ourselves and not put ourselves down.

We are made in our Fathers image (everyone) we all need to stop looking around at each other and comparing ourselves. We need to love our individuality and not give in to thinking and changing ourselves to fit the schedule of the World, it's forever changing. Black women, love yourselves, in your skin, hair, features- everything.

As India Arie says: We are not our hair. (that's not the most important thing)

The Hippie Shopper

The Hippie Shopper blog advertises environmentally friendly toys, food, clothes and products. Both Eco-lovers and those interested in Eco-friendly things would enjoy this site. It's not entirely an original idea, but this site holds it's information together quite well.

It tells its readers about unusual new Eco-friendly inventions like the 'Compact sit-down shopping cart' which is intended to encourage people to stop using their cars when shopping. I'm not an organic follower, but after looking at the site I've become interested in the different products and clothing they advertise. This site advertises things which could potentially be boring and turns it into innovative and interesting ideas.

straight faced teenagers

I'm walking into a 155 bus full of Chestnut grove secondary students, minding my own business and generally avoiding eye contact to hide my tiredness. It's eight something in the morning but that doesn't seem to stop teenagers from talking non stop and playing their music for everyone to hear. well I use to talk just as much when I was their age, so I can't complain. I randomly look behind me and notice that there's a familiar young boy (who lives in my area) on the bus. I haven't seen him in a while. Eager to say hi, I smile and say a ' how are you'. In response, I'm greeted with a stiff nod. This is the same boy who used to shout 'hi' and wave to me from across the street. His tall height, black cap and serious expression looks nothing like the happy, carefree, fun-loving 12 year old he used to be. But he's only 14? whats changed within two years?

I look ahead and see another young boy on the bus who used to happily speak to me after church service. Now, my presence is ignored and he pretends that he doesn't notice me. What has happened to these teenage boys? I think it's more than puberty.

I'm taken back by it all. I don't understand. I mean, I look back at how I was at their age and yes I did have my my moments but I would usually snap out of them whenever I was out and saw someone I knew. I was taught manners; to respect your elders. Am I the only one who thinks this? I think being cool has taken on a new meaning.

I pray that my little brother doesn't change his sweet character and re-in act the 'Kevin' transformation of becoming a teenager. There seems to be a law that I can't see, one that tells these youngsters that they have to wear a hood, low jeans and swagger when they walk to earn street cred. Saying hello is no longer being mannerly, it's being foolish. As my mum asks 'is being a teenager about being rude and moody?'

well maybe it is?.......what do you think?