My grandmother, Elizabeth May Carter Johnson, was a serious woman. She grew up in an era when she had to be serious. As a Black woman raised in the South, who later lived in the North, she was the head of her family with fourteen children!
This Sunday, I will be preaching from Daniel 3 under the title “Unburned, Unbothered, and Unbound.” The focus will be on how to respond to an empire in authority - with faith; and how God shows up even in the middle of our fires. The central
One of my favorite movies is Mr. Holland’s Opus. In the last moments that marked the end of a lifetime of teaching, Mr. Holland is packing up his classroom—boxes stacked, memories tucked away—ready to quietly slip out the door. But before he can leave, someone invites
Beloved, I am a big tea drinker. There are six main types of tea — White, Green, Yellow, Oolong, Black, and Pu-erh. Each one tastes different not because it comes from a different plant, but because of what it has been through. The color, the fragrance,
A year ago, Eboni, the boys, and I decided to join a caravan of Jeep Wrangler owners for an off-roading adventure in the Uwharrie Mountains! This was a group of, predominantly African American, Charlotte- based Jeep enthusiasts known as the Queen City Jeep Club. That morning,
The first time we see Jesus reveal His glory is at a wedding feast in Cana. At this event, ordinary water became extraordinary wine! All throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus at tables: reclining at banquets, breaking bread in homes, gathering with friends in celebration, and
A component of my clinical pastoral education certification training was at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. This is home to the Lakota Tribe! Like thousands of our Native American siblings across this country, they also carry the heavy weight of poverty, systemic neglect, and cycles
Have you heard the story about the mother eagle and a mother squirrel who happened to build their nests in the very same tree? They were hugely different neighbors! The squirrel built her nest safely inside the tree, cozy and hidden. The eagle went all in,
My father was a UMC ordained pastor! I grew up in the United Methodist Church. As children, UMC annual conferences were like family reunions to us: BUMP, BMCR, the United Methodist Men, and now, the United Women of Faith were all childhood staples for me. It was
Have you heard the story about the Optometrist’s daughter? It goes like this - One summer afternoon, the Optometrist’s daughter, a first-year philosophy major in college, was home visiting her mother at work. As she sat in the waiting room, she observed patient after patient stagger
