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    “A lowered standard”

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    Pastor Rasheed Baaith
    Pastor Rasheed Baaith

    “A lowered standard”

    By Pastor Rasheed Z. Baaith

         “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.” (2 Peter 3:3)

    For the Body of Christ 2013 has been a year of Biblical prophetic fulfillment.  The Church is indeed being attacked by the false teachers Paul spoke so eloquently and forcefully about in the book of 2 Timothy.

    And of course when one speaks of these things the response by many inside and outside the Church is one of two things: one, the assessment is an inaccurate one or two; these false teachers are making God and His Church more “today” and more accessible to the people.

    The only way to judge what is being taught today is to look at the content of the teaching and connect the teaching to Scripture. If what I or anyone else teaches cannot be proven by Scripture, it should be disregarded, no matter whose mouth it comes out of.

    This is a year where pastors have taken self-promotion to an extreme.  Starting with but certainly not ending with television programs like “Preachers of LA.”  Determined to live every stereotype circulated about preachers from loving money more than they love God to preaching one thing but living another, the spiritual damage done by this program is as extensive as it is sad.  For mis-leading young people in particular.

    The only difference between this crew and the hip-hop industry is that the hip-hop industry is more honest.  Both are pursuing the same things. Money and mo’ money. In an undisguised pursuit of personal enrichment, these “Shepherds” are fleecing their sheep in more ways than one.  Yet at some point the sheep need to be held accountable for whom they let lead them. If you decide to follow a pastor who you know cares more about his wallet than his spirit, more about living high than living righteously and more about how big his house than how uncompromising the Holiness of God in, that’s on you.

    Let’s get something else straight, this is not about expecting a man or woman to be without sin because none of us are and we know God can use polluted vessels because He uses me and you, but it is about trying to be upright in the eyes of God and before the presence of men.

    Nor does it matter to these kinds of pastors how much they have been blessed in ministry.  In recent years one mega church pastor has died of a drug over dose; more have succumbed to illicit sexual desires including homosexuality and pedophilia, and a number of others have let lust for money take them into places their spirit did not want to go.

    If that’s not concern enough, there is a young woman who says she twerks for Jesus. Why she thinks Jesus would need her to tempt men and women with her body is way beyond me.  How does anyone come to the conclusion that God not ordains such filthy carnal behavior but approves of it?  What Jesus is she talking about and from what Bible?

    Along the same path is this “sexy Christian” way of dressing I’ve read about and seen.  The leading exemplar of this new vogue is a First Lady. Her clothes are tight and extremely revealing. Nothing is left to imagine. When she saunters down aisle you can bet that everybody’s mind goes from what is above to what is below.  That means that those struggling with sexual issues have to struggle even more.

    Somehow many in today’s Church believe that to have moral standards or to expect pastors to theologically sound and having the moral mind of Christ is out dated.  This thought coupled with the “Jesus is love, so I can do anything I want and He will understand” philosophy is an attempt to make the Church not the Body of Christ but a religious association.  And in this association, ritual is more important than worship, and sin is just a concept. Ain’t no Bible in that.

    But we’re back where we were before.  The Church folk are responsible for this mess and church folk need to clean it up.  It needs to be done not because the Deacon Board says so because some of the Deacon Boards in our churches are the problem. There is no Biblical foundation for deacons to directing any church, being able to fire pastors or control church finances, none.

    The cleaning needs to be done because the Word of God requires it. 2 Timothy 4:2 “Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine;” and Titus 1:13 “Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in faith.”  The question for the church in the coming year is does it believe what it says it does?  Does it believe the Bible, which is the foundation of the Church is truly the Word of God and that as such it cannot be compromised?

    If it does, the Church needs to do more than just think about it, it needs to live it.

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    Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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    This College Chaplain Fills The Pews By Teaching, Not Preaching Lawrence Lockett Jr., Morgan State University chaplain. Credit: Lawrence Lockett Jr. via LinkedIn By REV. DOROTHY S. BOULWARE (Source: Amsterdam News) It’s understandable for parents of strong faith to worry about the spiritual lives of their children who’ve gone away to college. After all, it’s easy for a young person, perhaps on their own for the first time, to suc-cumb to the temptations of partying late on Saturday night and sleeping in on Sunday morning. But Minister Lawrence Lockett Jr., chaplain at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is packing them into the pews most Sundays. He is engaging them in lively ways during the week. And students are joining the choir, accompanying worship on various instruments, and serving as readers and leaders throughout the service. It is by the grace of God for sure, but also by the loving service of Lockett, who’s beginning his second year as the school’s director of chapel. He has grown his flock from the 25 or so students who showed up at his first services to more than 200 each Sunday. Sometimes, it’s standing room only. “We’ve been trying to figure out what to do next because on Easter Sunday we had 342 people, and some were standing in the back,” he said. Word In Black talked to Lockett about the secrets of his success: how his adjustment of Sunday ser-vices got people into the pews, why his philosophy for guiding students on their spiritual journey centers on independent thought, and how his “Spin the Block” initiative is shaking things up on campus. The in-terview has been edited for length and clarity. Word in Black: The first thing we want to know is, how do you get so many young people to chapel every Sunday?. Lawrence Lockett: Well, first of all, I changed the time of service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I realized a lot of the students like to sleep in late. It gives them time to do whatever they need to do. I’m sure many of them still like to party hearty over the weekend. So they have a good chance just to kind of refocus, recali-brate, get themselves lunch, and then come over to the chapel for service. When I started in November, maybe 20-25 students came, but now it’s over 200 that come every Sun-day, and it’s pretty cool. So now we’re repositioning ourselves to go after the freshman class this year. If we have the same success as last year, there’s definitely not going to be any room. Word in Black: Tell me about pastoring on a college campus. Lawrence Lockett: Morgan actually started as a biblical institute, so the Christian traditions have al-ways been here. As a pastor or shepherd, I’m walking students through their questions, not always just trying to preach answers to them. It’s about being vulnerable. I tell them I was in their same position, just trying to figure it out. And it’s not me just trying to give them answers. Having been there helps me really walk with them and anchor them in the storm of life that’s going to come. I want them to understand that their soul really matters. A lot of students focus on mental health, but they really need to focus on spiritual health as well. It should be one and the same. So I’ve been trying to preach that, if anything, spiritual health is just as important as your mental health. But we do encour-age the use of the counseling center, for sure, if there is a mental health crisis. WIB: What does Monday through Friday look like for you? LL: Mondays, we are usually off because of Sundays. On Tuesdays, we have Bible studies, so I’ll host a Bible study at noon along with my colleagues that work in the chapel. And then, I’m teaching a class called Hip-hop and the Gospel on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., dealing with mixing culture and religion. On Wednesdays, we do something called “breath and balance,” which is just a meditative type of pro-gram with breathing exercises as stress relievers. We work with the School of Nutrition Science and the food resource center so that the students get a nice free meal and practice breathing exercises and meth-ods to feel good about the day. For Thursdays, we started something called the mosaic, in which we have different campus ministers gather in small groups, just like a mosaic painting. So the students who come on Sundays then get plugged into small groups on Thursdays. And on Fridays at 1 p.m., we do prayer for Muslims.. We have an imam lecture and then lead in corporate prayer. It’s a good mix. WIB: What is “Spend a Block?” Didn’t you receive an award for it? LL: That started last year. We just basically do services outside: outside the residence halls, in the quad, wherever it may be. Honestly, worship on a college campus looks different than it did 20 or 30 years ago. Students want something real and authentic, something they can gravitate to, and something that’s convenient. So when we’re outside, people are like, “What’s all the noise outside? What’s all the music?” Then they come outside, and there are chairs, so they grab one and sit and enjoy the service. We come to them. They don’t have to come to us. At the very beginning of the semester, we do services outside the four resi-dence halls. And that kind of gives us a steamroll into homecoming week. And we’ve seen a lot of success because of that. WIB: What should I expect when I arrive for Sunday service? LL: You’re gonna see a lot of involvement with students. I’ve learned that students like to feel invested, and they want to participate in what’s going on. They don’t want to be told by adults what they should and shouldn’t do. So when you go to the service, you’ll see our praise team full of students. You’ll see a choir full of students. You’ll see students reading scripture. You’ll see students giving testimonies. And then I’ll come in and give a sermon, or I’ll have a guest friend or a guest preacher come in to do the sermon. But you’re gonna see a lot of student involvement, and I think that also assisted with a lot of the growth be-cause when they see fellow students, they understand they’re just like me, and if they can do it, I can do it. WIB: What about musicians and choir? LL: The musicians are also students. They say, “Hey, I love to play. I wanna use my gifts in some way, shape, or form.” And they’ll ask whether or not there’s a spot for them. And we say absolutely. And there is a chapel choir. Some of the members are also members of the university choir. WIB: What is the “next” you see for the chapel? LL: I want the students to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. The chapel really is the heartbeat of the campus, and I want students to know more about where faith, hope, and belonging really stem from. 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