Jesus Calms The Storm

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to share another blog called "The Fun Friday Night Concert". Y'all might be thinking. "I went to a concert?" Yes for the first time in five years! (Side note the last concert I attended was back in the fall of 2021 when it was the "Newsboys" featuring the late Mandisa and other well known Contemporary Christian artists and it took place at my former church "Discover Church". Well this Friday night concert took place at "Discover Church" but this time it was different artists. The first opening act was Trip Lee a Christian rapper, (also good friends with Lecrae and collaborated with him in the past along with others) Terrian Woods, (she was a former backup vocalist for Contemporary Christian artist TobyMac, made it to the Hollywood round season 15 of "American Idol", and now is a solo gospel artist) and the headliner KB another Christian rapper. Get this ladies all the artists that ministered that night were all black not white! I know right? How was the turnout? I was there along with my parents, sister, colorful and upnoxious brother-in-law, (My nephew Abraham was with a babysitter) my younger brother, countless friends of the family, and many other families too. (Side note I was surprised how many kids were there though I wasn't surprised there were many teenagers and young adults there.) It also was a racial diverse crowd as well as age diversity which was really nice. Now get this ladies. As the concert was going on, there was a bad storm outside and I and others received notices on our phone to not go outside at all and to be in the basement! Well by the grace of God the sanctuary (where the concert was held) was the safest zone we were in and the concert continued to go on! KB ministered many wonderful songs like many up tempo songs, slow ballads, and have sampled many songs. He sampled songs such as "Let It Rain", "When The Spirit Of The Lord" by gospel artist Fred Hammond, "Long As I Got King Jesus" by gospel artist Vickie Winans, "Holy Forever" and "God Of Angel Armies" by worship artist Chris Tomlin, "Bless The Lord (10,000 Reasons) by worship artist Matt Redman just to name some! It was so touching to hear the audience sing in unity with those samples that were being sung! I'm sure all of heaven was touched by that too. But there was one slow ballad that touched me deeply and made my eyes water was the song called "Masterpiece". Why is that song significant? Well KB has been married to his wife for many years and has three children. He has two sons and a daughter and his daughters name is Nala named after Nala from "The Lion King!" I believe the song "Masterpiece" was dedicated to her to let her know how beautiful she is to him and that song was written for to encourage other women of God too. Man that song touched the depths of my soul in ways you could never imagine and it felt as though my Heavenly Father was singing that to me! I think of all the songs KB did I think that one maybe one of my favorites even though it's made my eyes water! The other thing about the concert was that it was more affordable compared to all the other concerts. I think what may have helped is those artists Trip Lee, Terrian Woods, and KB are independent Christian artists which made it economical. I'm sure if there would have been major Contemporary Christian artists, it likely would have cost more! The concert started a little bit after 7 PM and ended at 10 PM or close to that which meant we got put in good timing. Not only that when the concert was over I got to talk to some people as did relatives about how the night went as well as concerns for the rain we've had. (That's for another blog for me to share!) When it was time for us to go home it was raining outside but not as hard as it was when the concert was going on. But the further drove home the rain got less and less to the point it eventually stopped! By the grace of God no water was in our basement (Side note had water in the basement on Tuesday and Wednesday) though sadly my church "New Life Assembly Of God Church" had severe flooding in the basement countless times. (Again that's for another blog for another time.) But looking back I believe it was an act of God that He enabled me, my relatives, and others to have fun at an indoor concert (I've been to outdoor concerts in the past) despite the brutal rain. So much for praising God in the midst of the storm! So that's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings to each of you ladies and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present another blog called the "Ascension Of Christ". If you ladies recall before I shared the blogs about prison injustice and my recent vacation, I wrote blogs honoring "Holy Week" starting with "Palm Sunday", (His triumph entry riding a donkey) His crucifixion on "Good Friday", and His resurrection on "Easter Sunday". The Bible says that after Jesus rose from the dead He remained on earth for 40 days and appeared to over 500 people! Wow that's a lot of people! (Side note I wouldn't be surprised if He appeared to His younger stepbrothers James the Just, Jude, His mom, and the rest of His younger step-siblings. Perhaps His resurrection is what made His younger step-siblings believe that He's the Son of God!) Scripture mentioned that He appeared to His disciples in Mark, Luke, and John, appeared to the discord of Emmaus and countless others. I also wouldn't be surprised that Christ wanted to make sure He spent quality time with His male disciples, women of Galilee, and others knowing that He was going to go back to heaven shortly. Matthew 28:19 talks about the "Great Commission" that He gave His male disciples to go preach the gospel baptizing folks in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. To teach all He had commanded them. Then He promised He'd be with them always until the end of the age. We also know that in Acts 1:8 that Christ made another promise to His male disciples and declared they shall receive power that when the Holy Ghost comes upon them. He told them they shall be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Another thing I want to mention here is that after Jesus died and rose again, His male disciples believed that perhaps would restore the kingdom of Israel! That may sound strange but their mindset was that Christ would set on an earthly kingdom and rule! (Side note that's going to happen much later and Scripture mentions that Christ will reign during the Millennial reign for a 1,000 years after the seven year tribulation period! By that point the kingdom of Israel will be restored but that's for another blog!) But see they weren't seeing the "big picture" and Christ came during His first coming to establish His kingdom not outwardly but inwardly! It would take awhile for His male disciples to understand that but Christ also promised to send His Holy Spirit to help them and commanded them not to leave until they've been clothed with power from on high! As He was giving them those instructions He stood with them on the Mount of Olives (a place where they've met before) and out of nowhere He started ascending into heaven in front of their eyes! What a sight that must have been! The only other person that ascended into heaven which was Elijah mentioned in 2 Kings 2 and was taken up through a chariot of fire in front of his "spiritual son" Elisha! What a scene that must have been for Elisha to have witnessed! Now thousands of years later it happened again this time with our Lord and He continued to go up, up, up! As that continued to happen His male disciples kept looking until they couldn't see our Lord anymore! Then two angels appeared and said to His male disciples. "Why are y'all gazing at the sky? The same Jesus that was taken from heaven will one day descend in like manner! In other words the angels promised Christ's male disciples that they'll see Him again! Of course they wouldn't see Jesus face to face again until they all died a martyrs death is when they were able to go to heaven! But when Christ ascended is when the Holy Spirit descended and as we know they were baptized in the Holy Ghost in the upperroom after waiting for ten days! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. I don't know about y'all but I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus and Scripture come alive! I know y'all are thankful for the Holy Ghost too. Blessings, happy Lord's day, and have a great week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present another blog called "Me And A Friends Interesting Vacation". Let me start off by saying I don't go on vacation a whole lot for various reasons due to money, timing, and depending on the occasion. The last time I took a vacation was after Christmas during New Year's season at Taylor, Michigan was December 30th 2025 through January 2nd 2026. (It was my godfather's meeting.) We got to fly all the way to Washington DC which was crazy! Me and my friend drove from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to an airport in Chicago, Illinois. But here's where the craziness came in. We booked a flight the night before and it got cancelled because my friend had a paper ID instead of a physical copy of a state ID! (Side note I had my physical copy of my state ID which made it easier for me.) Yeah that's what happened! We stayed at the airport trying to figure out what other flight we needed to book and it was even more challenging! I then had enough and had to call an intercessor to pray with me and for me about the whole situation. My stress level was on a all-time high and I went into the bathroom and sobbed because of the stress! By the grace of God we were able to book a different flight on Frontier airlines and we were able to fly at 4:45 PM or a little after that and we stayed at Orlando, Florida which it was a several hour layover! Me and my friend decided to stay at the airport overnight to avoid staying at the hotel and ubering! Number one if we stayed at a hotel in Florida we would have had to pay for it and we had to Uber there and back to the airport. It would have made it complicated and not only that I don't think Uber drivers work that early in the morning! It was uncomfortable staying the night at the airport but by God's grace I was able to sleep a few hours or so! (I got up early to pray and read the Bible.) Then we were able to make the morning flight and landed at the airport but my friends luggage wasn't delivered and it had her clothes! I had to lend my old clothes for her to wear and we split the cost for uber to make it to the Washington DC Lincoln Memorial! It would be there that I took pictures there and got to meet friends out of state! I took a picture of President Abraham Lincoln's statue as did many other people! We got to march with other Christians from other states to protest against injustice! For those of you who may or may not know injustice is still happening in our nation. One of the injustices is people getting incarcerated unjustly, against minorities, and even against pastors! As we were marching, some us were carrying posters while all of us were chanting! The poster I carried was "Stop fighting my religious beliefs" because that's the most important freedom there is! Some of the chants that I remember that said. "If you silence our pastors our voices get louder!" Another chant I remember stated. "You will not target churches anymore. No more!" I think that was my absolute favorite chant because it's a rebuke to the government to leave the church of America alone! It was a nice day no rain by the grace of God. Get this ladies. This was me and my friends first time ever being in Washington DC! Another important factor to remember is this was the first time of me flying an airplane since 2019! Whew! The last time I flew on a airplane was when I took my last missions trip to Los Angeles, California with my former church "Discover Church". (I took a missions trip to California in 2014 and flew to Mexico twice in both 2016 and 2018! (I took a bus to Missouri for a missions trip in August 2017.) I flew on a airplane four times for missions trips (At my former church "Discover Church". I attend and am a member at "New Life Assembly Of God Church" for the past six years. ) which was why I flew! But since Covid occurred, my traveling life slowed down or was non-existent! (The last time I went out of state was traveling by car or bus to Taylor, Michigan twice last year in 2025. That was my first time out of state for six years if you can believe that ladies!) But God made a waste when it seemed to be no way! After we ate we split Uber costs to head to another airport which enabled me to get a flight home. (My friend sadly had to book a flight on a different airline for her to get home which was also had its share of complications.) But God was gracious despite the madness and I was able to fly home from Washington DC back to Milwaukee Wisconsin on a non-stop flight! Now remember that's a miracle because most nonstop flights are very expensive and we were able to get it $230 something dollars which is unheard of! Not only that it was a last minute flight (last minute flights are quite complicated at times) and on the way back I got to eat lovely snacks and soda which I didn't have to pay a dime for it! My dad picked me up from the Milwaukee airport, visited my grandma, and eventually headed home! Everything was crazy from beginning to end but by God's grace we made it through! (I pray our next vacation is smoother than that in Jesus name!) For those that prayed for me I'm so thankful for that. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings, happy Tuesday, and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I know it's after Easter season but I feel that the Lord has had me "switch gears" for a bit and share what's on my heart about prisoners. The title I have for the blog is called "Prayer For Prisoners" Part 2. This is a follow up blog that I wrote three months ago during my birthday week in January where I wrote "Letters To Prisoners" where I revealed some deep and personal stuff without revealing names. I'll be doing something very similar with this even after Easter season to share stuff about the prison system y'all will be surprised to know about. First and foremost the Bible talks about in Matthew 25:31-42 talks about the "Sheep And The Goats" where Christ will either reward or condemn those for the deeds they've done in the body. The sheep were the ones who fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, clothed the naked, invited strangers, and those who visited the sick and imprisoned. But the goats were the ones who refused to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, refused to clothe the naked, and refused to visit the sick and imprisoned. Christ was saying in that parable whatever we do or don't do for the least of these we did or didn't do unto Him! Whew! And that's why for the past few months in my virtual prayer meetings, I've been more intentional mentioning the importance of praying for prisoners because I'm sure Christ will ask if we visited them or said a prayer for them. One thing I know I can say is I prayed for them and those who have been at my virtual prayer meetings have been praying! That's the first point I want to make. The second point I want to make is I know that people go to prison for just reasons. We know especially with murders, pedophilers, abusers, and human traffic people need to be in prison for what they've done. I'm not at all justifying what they've done at all but hopefully in prison they have time to think about their actions and hopefully consider their need for Christ. Another thing I want to say is that there's consequences for wrong doing and we know since Adam and Eve's sin, consequences were brought upon the earth because of that. So those that are in prison justly know that there's a price for sin and how that damages us as human beings, damages society, and even hurts the heart of God. Yet despite that, God can use your situation to see your need for salvation. In fact the Bible says in 1 John.1:9 "If we confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". If you're a prisoner locked up right now and it's for a just reason I want you to know that God the Father sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins, mine, and for the whole world! In fact we just finished celebrating "Holy Week" last week concluding on "Easter Sunday" on April 5th (It started on "Palm Sunday" March 29th and it progressed to "Good Friday" on April 3rd.) where we honored the death and resurrection of our Lord and if you call on Him and accept Him into your heart, you can and will be saved! That's a promise! So even in prison you have time to think about your choices and perhaps you have time to think about Jesus and what a good opportunity to give your life to Him! God can take your heart of stone and make it into a heart of flesh! God can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it around for good! The third point I want to make and really the main point of this blog is there are people incarcerated for unjust reasons. Sometimes the police may think a person is a "suspect" when they're not or arrest the wrong person. Other times they may arrest someone because they're racist (It's sad but true and that's happened before) or sadly people can be arrested even for righteousness sake. I'm gonna let you ladies know that it's common in certain countries overseas where sometimes Christians can get arrested for sharing and preaching the gospel if you can believe that! As a matter of fact in the Bible times the Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, and John the Revelator to name a few were unjustly incarcerated for sharing the gospel but thank goodness they didn't stop! (You can read about that in the book of Acts!) Another thing that maybe shocking but sad to say is it's starting to happen in America the land that we love in a gradual way. I've heard of horror stories in America about pastors (who will be nameless in this blog) having legal troubles or getting arrested for sharing the gospel! I know right? In fact ladies I have a dear friend of mine who's a black man who loves the Lord with all his heart who got unjustly incarcerated because of greed, racism, and for righteousness sake! (Side note it wasn't because of him being greedy but because of the police who arrested him were greedy!) Yes it's happening folks and that's alarming! So ladies we need to remember to pray for those unjustly incarcerated to pray that God will defend them and that the police and court will realize their mistakes and let the innocent be let go! The fourth point I want to say which maybe shocking is there are more blacks than whites that are incarcerated if y'all can believe that! Side note does that mean that whites don't commit crimes? Of course they've committed crimes! Just look at the school shootings alone and the majority of murdered for that are white! (The sad thing is sometimes those murders end of committing suicide so they don't get caught which happens a lot though there are times they do get caught and get arrested justly.) But even with that I'm shocked how many blacks especially men that are in prison more than white men and that should reveal there's subtle racism going on in the prison system and a black friend of mine is dealing with that right now for the past eight months! The fifth point I want to make is that the court systems are often unjust to minority races as well. It seems to me that whites who commit crimes do get sentenced either to prison or granted a bond but blacks often get harsher sentences and hardly granted bond whether they're guilty or not! Whew! A friend of mine has been repeatedly denied bond and I believe it's due to racism and corruption in the court system! So there's racism in the court system and don't even mention about corrupt judges, lawyers, people lying in court, and prosecution that often goes on in the court room as well too. The sixth point I want to make is we need to pray for corrupt police, corrupt judges, lawyers, prosecution, and people who work for corrupt systems to repent, get saved, and act justly. Jesus tells us to love our enemies which can be extremely challenging something that I've had to do more alot lately! The Bible also says in Micah 6:8 says to "Love justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before the Lord our God". We need to pray for these people who have acted unjustly to see their need for Christ, to truly repent, as well as remember why they have their positions of authority in the first place! The purpose of police officers, judges, prosecution, lawyers, and the prison system is invoke justice in our land! There are reasons for those positions and I believe in respecting those offices too. But if they act unjust they need to be accountable and they need to repent or give their lives to Christ. I guarantee you ladies that a person can't truly walk with the Lord for any length of time and be unjust. It won't work! We also need to pray they remember they're in those positions to serve and to protect our community not to harm! The seventh point want to share is having a loved one incarcerated justly or unjustly can overwhelm family members and friends. I know firsthand how hard that can be when trying to be in communication with them or access to that is denied or the prisoner is treated badly as a result of that. Don't even mention how loved ones often worry about their loved one incarcerated well being and how much they miss them. Don't even mention the challenges of the holidays where it hits deeper as well and how grief of them being not there because of that. If you're a family member or friend that's dealing with a situation like this I want you to know I feel your pain. I also want a friend of mine who's unjustly incarcerated that I love you and miss you so very much and not a day goes by that I don't think about you. I also pray for you on a regular basis and ask other Christians to pray for you as well too. Know that where you are hasn't changed me caring about you and I know that it hasn't changed God's mind about caring about you as well. The eighth and final point I want to make is we serve a just God. If someone was put in prison justly God allowed it. If someone is incarcerated unjustly God saw that as well too. One of the hardest things to do is trust God to bring justice to people who have been done wrong in His timing and in His way. The Bible says in Romans 12;19 says "Dearly beloved avenge not yourselves but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, '''Vengeance is mine: I will repay saith the Lord.''' Scripture also says in Isaiah 54:17 "No weapon formed against us shall prosper " which means you won't get away with hurting God's children and get away with it! It won't work! That is not easy to accept especially since injustice has gone on for quite awhile but I believe there's something I've been learning through this process. God even in prayer time has had to remind me that He's taking care of my friend unjustly incarcerated and to "put him back in His hands" multiple times! We know that one day non-believers and prodigals who never came back to God according to the book of Revelations 20 will stand at the "Great White Throne Judgment" at the end of time God will throw them along with the devil, demons, Anti-Christ, and false prophet into the lake of fire where they'll dwell forever more! Whew! (Side note, isn't that why it's important to pray for the lost to get saved and prodigals to come home before that happens? Of course we know that!) Those who reject God will have to deal with the consequences of that at the end of their lives! But not only will God deal with the wicked (as well as the righteous) at the end of time but He also deals with people in this life too. Again I want to say to a friend of mine unjustly incarcerated I know you're there for righteousness sake, for greed, (I know people financially took advantage of you and I'm sorry for that) and racism. It breaks my heart it's ever had to come to this and it breaks God's heart too. But I won't stop praying for you, won't stop loving and caring about you and I won't stop asking Christians to pray for you either. (Side note praise report someone did get out of prison during "Holy Week" which is exciting!) That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Please continue to pray for me, pray for my friend unjustly incarcerated, pray for prisoners justly or unjustly incarcerated, pray for judges, police, prosecution, and lawyers to be just and get saved. That's what's been on my heart to share with y'all lately. Blessings, happy Lord's day, and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families had a good Easter Sunday. I got to go to my home church "New Life Assembly Of God Church" Sunday morning (I do that on a regular basis) and he preached an anointed message about Christ's resurrection and its impact of the life of a Christian. I got to spend time with family and got to eat great food. I got to watch a message online Sunday night from another ministry and be rejuvenated naturally and spiritually too. The title I have for this blog is called "The Similarities Between Holy Week And Passover". You might be thinking. "Why should a Christian care about those events and what impact does it have for today?" Well in this blog I'll be answering those questions dear ladies and I'm going to give history and the Bible behind it. First of all let's talk about their origins. Passover began when the Jews were slaves in Egypt and y'all can read about it in the book of Exodus and even watch "The Ten Commandments" movie as well. Many plagues hit Egypt but Pharaoh refused to listen and there was one last plague the death of the firstborn. But Moses and the Jews were commanded to have a one year old male lamb with no blemish, kill it, and sprinkle blood on their doorposts of their homes. That way when the "death angel" arrived it would "passover" it! God commanded the Jews to honor that holiday from that moment on. How did "Holy Week" begin? I wrote my "Palm Sunday" blog and it's about us honoring when our Lord rode on a donkey through the streets of Jerusalem. Now what are the similarities of "Holy Week" and "Passover". Number one they are celebrations to remember and cherish. Passover as I mentioned was to remember their deliverance from being slaves of Egypt and we God's people are to remember our spiritual deliverance Christ did for us! The second thing to remember is that blood had to be shed to stone for sin. Remember God told Moses and the Jews to kill one year old male lamb and sprinkle blood on their doorposts to stone for their sins. We know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the perfect spotless Lamb of God who's blood was spilled on the cross of Calvary for our sins! See how the parallels of the Old and New Testament? The third principle for the blood was to protect people from death. Remember the "death angel" was sweeping through the streets of Egypt that would kill the firstborn but only those with the blood on their homes would have the "death angel" passover it. We know that without salvation we're "spiritually dead" because of Adam and Eve's sin and the Bible says in Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death". It's not just physical death but also eternal separation from God! But we know that God the Father sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and all who accept Him and live for Him can be preserved from eternal death! It's not a guarantee we Christians will be preserved from physical death but it does guarantee to be spared from eternal death. Hallelujah! The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 "Without the shedding of blood there's no remission for sin." I pray that we God's people never take the blood of Jesus for granted as well too because His blood sustains better than the blood of goats and lambs! The fourth thing we must know that "Holy Week" and "Passover" the dates they fall on are often collided with each other! This year "Holy Week" began on March 29th 2026 on "Palm Sunday" and it concluded on Sunday April 5th which was "Easter Sunday" when we honored our Lord's resurrection! (Of course we honored "Good Friday" Jesus' death on the cross!) Passover started on April 1st 2026 and will conclude April 9th in 2026. The fifth and final principle to remember is that while they both are similar they're slightly different. Passover was under the "Old Covenant" while "Holy Week" is under the "New Covenant". But nevertheless I honor and celebrate both which I've celebrated both since Covid! I've always honored the Jewish people and what better way to honor the holidays they honor while still honoring the holidays I've celebrated all my life! I also believe how important it is for Christians to know the "Jewish roots of Christianity". That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings to each of you ladies and your families and have a blessed week in the Lord.

Hi ladies it's me again, happy Lord's day, and Happy Easter Sunday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well, I hope y'all are enjoying time with loved ones, and hopefully got to go to church today as did I! Many of you know that I've been faithfully attending "New Life Assembly Of God Church" for the past six years and have been a member there for the past five years. (The senior pastor I'm under right now is Pastor Antonio Bowen for the past seven months while my previous senior pastor was Pastor Kevin Olson from 2020 until 2025. I also previously attended and was a member of "Discover Church" for a number of years.) Pastor Antonio delivered wonderful messages on both "Good Friday" and "Easter Sunday" and the Holy Spirit's presence was there for sure! But anyhow with all that to say the title I have for this blog is called "The First Witnesses Of Jesus' Resurrection" on this "Easter Sunday". Now some of you may remember that the previous blog I wrote at the end of "Women's History Month" was called "The Wailing Women At The Foot Of The Cross" and this blog is a follow up for that! I mentioned in the previous blog when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was arrested, on trial, scourged 39 times, and later crucified on the cross on "Good Friday", many of His male disciples forsook Him with the exception of John the Revelator! (Peter denied Him three times while Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord and committed suicide!) But Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the other four women of Galilee (Mary mother of James the younger and Joses, Joanna wife of Cuza, Susanna, and Salome wife of Zebedee, mother of James and John the Revelator, and younger sister of Jesus' mother) along with John the Revelator remained faithful to Jesus during His trial, scourging, crucifixion, and even when they buried Him! Talk about loyalty! How many people are loyal like that especially these days? I can only imagine how Jesus' mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, the women of Galilee, and His male disciples being in deep mourning during those three days as well as others too. But on Easter Sunday we know that Mary Magdalene and her four female friends walked to the tomb with oil and spices to anoint Jesus' body because of their love for Him. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record this moment and an earthquake hit the earth and angels from heaven came down and moved the stone away! Whew! Matthew's account says that the Roman soldiers who guarded the tomb got so startled by the angels appearances and the earthquake that they shook and became like dead men! How wouldn't have been scared of those things? But the women went to the tomb and realized that Jesus' body was gone which startled them too! Just imagine looking for your deceased loved one only to realize their body isn't there! The angels told them not to be afraid and that Jesus isn't there anymore but had risen! The women buried to tell the male disciples what happened and John 20 mentions that John the Revelator and Peter ran to the tomb to see what the ladies said was true and it was! The tomb was empty! Peter and John the Revelator ran back to their dwelling place while Mary Magdalene looked inside the tomb to find our Lord! What's so precious about this was that Christ stood behind her unaware and met her at her place of sorrow! How beautiful is our Lord's heart! He asked her why she was crying and she asked where our Lord was and He revealed Himself on the spot! Then she went away and told her other four female friends who were amazed and Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene a second time but the first time for her four female friends and Matthew 28 mentions this. Mary Magdalene and her four friends fell down and worshipped our Lord in fear and trembling! Can you imagine how startled they must have been seeing Him and even His appearance? But Christ told them not to be afraid but to tell His male disciples to go to Galilee and there they'll see Him! They did so but sadly His male disciples did not believe them and the two disciples of Emmaus mentioned in Luke 24 saw Jesus and told His male disciples but they didn't believe them either! Isn't that something that Jesus' male disciples didn't believe Mary Magdalene, her four female friends, and the two men from Emmaus who testified about Jesus' resurrection? Mark 16 mentioned that Christ appeared and rebuked His male disciples sternly for their lack of faith in face to face appearances that others had! Could that be why He appeared to the ladies first because they were quicker to believe? Could another reason be because they chose to remain loyal to Christ on His brutal death that they'd be the first to see Him rise? Another point I want to make about the importance of the resurrection of Christ guarantees both spiritual resurrection and natural resurrection. What do I mean by "spiritual resurrection?" We know that because Adam and Eve sinned we were spiritually dead and had no relationship with God the Father! But that's why God the Father sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross and rise again to enable us to reconcile with God the Father! Only when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior can we be "spiritually resurrected!" 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit declared that because Jesus rose from the dead those who live for Christ who physically die are going to have a bodily resurrection! The Apostle Paul also mentioned if Christ hadn't risen we Christians won't be risen either! Whew! So Mary Magdalene and the four women's testimony about Christ's resurrection is so very important because it affects both spiritual and natural resurrection! Is there anything or anyone that needs to be resurrected today? Do you have unsaved loved ones, prodigals that needs spiritual resurrection? Do you need a dead marriage, dead dreams, ministry , or anything else that appears dead to rise again? Jesus is able to resurrect people and things that look impossible which is why the resurrection of Jesus matters! Plus Christ conquered death, hell, the grave, and Satan at His resurrection! He died on "Good Friday" as a Lamb with a crown of thorns but rose on Easter Sunday as a Lion wearing a crown of victory! The same Spirit who rose Christ from the dead lives in us Christians! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies today. Blessings, enjoy time with family, and have a blessed Easter everyone!

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present one more blog for "Women's History Month" and another one for "Holy Week". It has been a joy writing about the lives of wonderful women who have made a difference in the past and the present all throughout the month of March and can't wait to do it again next year in 2027. On this last day of "Women's History Month" and "Holy Week", the title of the blog is called "The Wailing Women At The Foot Of The Cross". Why am I mentioning the wailing women? Well folks we're at the end of the month of March and these women existed in the Bible. Again we're in "Holy Week" now that began on "Palm Sunday" and I shared a previous blog about that and we're honoring "Good Friday" which is coming up this week. As we know "Good Friday" was bad for Jesus but good for us later on. Who were the wailing women who mourned for Jesus at the cross and what is their story? Let's go back to Luke 8 where it talks about the women who followed Jesus. Hey did you ladies know that Jesus has female disciples too? He sure did! Their names are Mary Magdalene who had seven demons driven out of her, (Side note no where in Scripture ever said she was a prostitute or adulterous) Joanna wife of Cuza, (her husband was Herod Antipas's manager) Susanna, and other gospel accounts in Matthew 28 and Mark 16 mention other women Mary mother of James the younger (also a male disciple of Jesus) and Joses and Salome. (It's believed this Salome was the wife of Zebedee, mother of John the Revelator and James, and likely the younger sister of the Virgin Mary! There was another Salome who was the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas who asked for the head of John the Baptist! There were two different Salome's in the Bible!) Those were the women who followed Jesus along with the twelve other men disciples for three years. They also financially supported Jesus' ministry and they were His friends too. They likely were present during "Palm Sunday" and followed Jesus all the way even to the day of His crucifixion! There was another very important woman along with the women of Galilee and that was Jesus' mother the Virgin Mary. We know that the Angel Gabriel appeared to her in Luke 1 and promised her that Christ would be conceived through the Holy Spirit and that His kingdom shall be no end! I can only imagine the pain she must have felt to see Jesus be scourged 39 times, saw Him carry the cross, and saw Him hang there! I can only imagine the pain that Mary Magdalene, the rest of the women of Galilee, along with John the Revelator who saw what took place at the cross. I can only imagine how they must have mourned and many of y'all may have seen paintings of the crucifixion with women weeping over Christ's death. Here's another question to ask besides John the Revelator where were all the other male disciples? We know that Peter denied Jesus three times and hid, Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ and later committed suicide, and the other male disciples abandoned Christ! But you ladies know what's crazy? Christ still fulfilled His mission regardless and His mother, the women of Galilee, and John the Revelator refused to abandon Jesus despite His crucifixion! They stayed loyal to Christ despite it hurting them emotionally and despite Jesus' reputation being humiliated! As we know the Bible says in Isaiah 53 "He was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. It also says He carried our griefs and sorrows". We know that Christ was crucified during Passover (a Jewish holiday about the Passover lamb as rememberance a of their time in Egypt) and through His blood that mankind could be forgiven of their sins and put in right standing with the Father. Jesus was crucified between two thieves one got saved while the other didn't and Jesus motioned for John the Revelator to take care of His mother Mary. (See John 19) Many scholars and theologians believe that Joseph the carpenter Jesus' stepdad had died leaving Mary a widow and Mary's other adult children were non-believers by the time of Jesus' crucifixion. Also widows were dependent on their children to take care of them and Christ did that for years until His ministry when one of His brothers had to care for her. Now He needed someone else to do it and He summoned John the Revelator to do so and how thoughtful of our Lord as He was dying made sure His mother was taking care of! Then our Lord cried out "It is finished" and the curtain was torn in two in the "Holy of holies" room. The reason that was significant was because only the high priest could go in and they would have died if they weren't right! But God the Father ripped that curtain so all could come to His presence through the blood of His Son Jesus! Then the Roman soldiers, Joseph of Arrmethia, and Nicodemus took Jesus' body for burial at the garden tomb and the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the rest of the women of Galilee followed to see where their Lord, Savior, friend, and Rabbi would be buried. Talk about loyalty! Christ was loyal to the Father's will and became obedient to death on the cross (see Philippians 2) and John the Revelator, the Virgin Mary and the women of Galilee were loyal to Jesus to the point of death and burial! I hope and pray that's a lesson and encouragement for us ladies for today will we be loyal to Jesus even though it's costly? If it costs our reputation, relationships, during persecution, or suffering will we still love Him and serve Him? When others walk away from Him or betray us will we be faithful to Him? What an example the Virgin Mary and women of Galilee were being loyal to Christ during His worst time and their dark day on "Good Friday". What a way to conclude "Women's History Month" honoring women who were loyal to Jesus no matter what came their way! Of course we know that's not the end of the story. We know that Easter Sunday is coming and I'll be sharing the rest of the story what happened to the women of Galilee on that day which is for another blog! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings, enjoy the blog, "Happy Women's History Month" and happy "Holy Week" as well!

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm taking a little bit of a break from "Women's History Month" and I'll be sharing a blog honoring "Holy Week!" What officially kicks off "Holy Week?" Well it's "Palm Sunday" the week before Easter that kicks it off! What's "Palm Sunday" all about? Well it's about when Christ and His disciples were on their way traveling to Jerusalem and they notice a mother donkey and colt. (a baby donkey) The disciples take the colt and give it to Jesus and He rides on it. You can read this account in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John where when Christ rides on the donkey and His disciples are with Him when a crowd of people gather to meet Him. Who was this crowd? Well many people were aware of what happened to Lazarus (see John 11 for that) who was in the grave four days and rose from the dead by Christ! Word traveled fast about that and the crowd took their coats and laid it on the ground and waved Palm branches and shouted. "Hosanna! Hosanna blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!" What and why was the crowd of crying out? When they said "Hosanna" they were crying out and chanting for Jesus to save them! You know what's funny about that? In fact Jesus' name actually means "Savior or Salvation is of the Lord!" Here's something else to think about, have y'all wondered about why Christ asked His disciples to go get Him a donkey and not a horse? Well number one it was to fulfill prophecy from the Old Testament. The Scripture for that is mentioned in Zechariah 9:9 KJV says. "Rejoice greatly O daughters of Zion shout O daughter of Zion: Behold thy King cometh unto thee, He is just and having salvation: Lowly and riding on a colt". Christ number one came to fulfill prophecy from the Old Testament! (Side note Zechariah in the Old Testament is different from Zechariah in the New Testament. Zechariah from the Old Testament is a prophet while Zechariah in the New Testament is a priest, the husband of Elizabeth, and father of John the Baptist!) The second reason is the importance of knowing what significant animals kings in the ancient times ride on and their significance. If a king rode on a donkey either in his nation or to another nation meant he came to bring peace. But if a king rode in his nation or another nation on a horse it meant he's going to war! Some of you ladies may or may not know that in the book of Revelations 19:11-16 depicts our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ coming out of heaven with the armies of heaven (the raptured saints) riding on a horse where He's declared "King of kings and Lord of lords!" In the future our Lord and Savior will ride on a horse to make war with the Anti-Christ (Side note the Anti-Christ is not President Trump!) and other evil armies that come against Israel! (Side note that's why it's important for us in the body of Christ to stand with Israel as well as pray for their salvation! Anyone that fights Israel is a enemy of our Lord period and there's tons of Scripture to back that!) But when Christ on "Palm Sunday" rode on a donkey He came to bring peace not war! (War is for a much later time!) But here's what's so interesting about "Palm Sunday". It was like a parade for Jesus and the Pharisees hated it! Not surprising right? The Pharisees said in Luke 19:39 KJV. "Master rebuke thy disciples!" But Christ replied in verse 40, "I tell you that if they hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out!" Wow! That talks about why our praise is so important because if we don't the rocks will cry out! But here's another important point to remember. When the crowd shouted "Hosanna! Hosanna!" they were right about that. But they assumed that when Christ arrived in Jerusalem during that time, they assumed He was going to come overthrow the Roman government and the Pharisees and establish His earthly kingdom right then and there! The funny thing about that is that the male disciples (not the lady disciples Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary mother of James the younger, Susanna, and Salome which I'll write two more blogs in honor of them!) assumed the same thing as well too that Christ would establish His earthly kingdom in Jerusalem at that time! But as we know they were completely ignorant that Christ came to seek and save that which was lost (see Luke 19:10) and only later come back to rule the kingdoms of this world during the "Millennial reign". (That's for another time and for another blog!) Neither the crowd nor Christ's male disciples even considered the cross and resurrection much less entering the kingdom of heaven but ladies Jesus wasn't blind sighted nor ignorant what He was about to face. Jesus is fully God and fully Man knew what challenges awaited Him in Jerusalem. He knew that though the crowd was cheering for Him on "Palm Sunday" would later chant "Crucify Him" on "Good Friday". Ladies let me share something startling. Just because someone may sing Jesus praises or compliment us doesn't mean they care about us or have our hearts. It's because when Christ would later get arrested, accused, and treated badly the crowd wanted nothing to do with Him! I pray that we ladies don't ever become like that forsaking our Lord or each other when we get tested because of our walk with Christ. Christ came to bring us to a spiritual kingdom of heaven and the way of that would be through the cross! So as we celebrate today and the rest of "Holy Week" may we be appreciated for what Jesus has done for us, may our love for Him grow, and may we never take Him for granted. May we also praise and worship Him in spirit and in truth mentioned from John 4:24. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings to each of you ladies, happy Lord's day, and happy "Palm Sunday!"

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to announce another blog for "Women's History Month" and that is the life of Adrienne Bailon/Houghton! It's my first time writing about a Hispanic American woman in two years since writing about Jaci Velasquez for "Women's History Month!" What's Adrienne's story? She was born in New York City, New York to a Puerto Rican mother named Nilda and Ecuadorian father named Freddie and had an older sister. Adrienne was a second generation immigrant which often comes with it's own set of challenges. But despite that, Adrienne grew up in a Christian home, that kept her rooted, and she got saved. In 1999 she sang in the church choir at "Madison Square Garden" where she was discovered by Ricky Martin and asked if she wanted to join a girl group! There were two other young women in the group called "3LW" along with Kiely Williams and another young woman named Naturi Naughton and signed to Epic records. They released their self-titled debut album in 2000 which caused for Adrienne to be introduced to the spotlight as a teenager! Two years later they released a follow up album in 2002 called "A Girl Can Mack" which was the last project Adrienne was on. Later she auditioned for a Disney musical film called "The Cheetah Girls" along with Kiely Williams, Sabrina Bryan, and Raven Symone which did well. That also was the same time that Jessica Benson auditioned and joined "3LW" and released "Point Of No Return" which didn't do as well as the previous projects. Adrienne, Kiely, and Sabrina released their Christmas album called "Cheetahlicious Christmas" and worked on another film together. They starred in "The Cheetah Girls 2" along with Raven Symone and that film has been one of the most successful Disney channel movies of all time besides "High school Musical"! (Side note Raven Symone never joined "The Cheetah Girls" group outside the movie for her to concentrate on her solo career!) "The Cheetah Girls" released their 2007 album "TCG" which was their last album release. In 2008 they starred in final series of "The Cheetah Girls" called "One World" and after that the band disbanded. But Adrienne kept on acting and starred in films such as "Coach Carter", "All You've Got", (along with R&B artist Ciara), and "I'm In Love With Church Girl" to name a few! (Side note "I'm In Love With Church Girl" is about Adrienne playing Vanessa Leon a young woman who loves the Lord falls for a gangsta and prisoner named Miles and through her example comes to Christ. They fall in love, get married, and start a church together. It also starts TobyMac and Israel Houghton helped produce the movie!) She also cohosted from 2013 until 2022 a show called "The Real" and won an Emmy award and coanchored from 2022 to 2023 "E News". Adrienne has also had ups and downs in her romantic relationships which has caused some public scrunity. She dated Rob Kardashian (relative of Kim Kardashian) from 2007 until 2009 and they broke up due to infedelity on Rob's end. Them she dated music producer Lenny Santiago for six years and got engaged him before breaking up in mid 2015! Then in March of 2016, she dated a Christian, worship leader, gospel artist, and newly divorced Israel Houghton! Now that for sure got a lot of attention in both the Christian world and secular world. Adrienne got criticized that's "she's the one who broke up the marriage" when in reality she was in another romantic relationship before dating Israel Houghton! Israel Houghton is a biracial man who used to be worship leader at "Lakewood Church" (pastored by Joel Osteen) and has been a worship artist for years! He's known for songs such as "Lord You Are Good", "Friend Of God", "With Long Life", "I Just Wanna Say", "Jesus At The Center", "Thank you Lord For Saving Me" to name several and has been a solo artist and collaborated with "New Breed"! In other words, he's a household name in the Christian music world! The other thing is that he had four children from his first marriage to former wife Meleasa (They were married from 1994 year I was born until they divorced in February 2016) and had two kids out of wedlock from other relationships! But none of that was known until he got divorced and when that happened, many Christians got mean-spirited about that! (Very similar things happened to Sandi Patty and Amy Grant when they got divorced in the 1990s and many Christians got mean-spirited over that as well too. But despite that they both remarried, repented to the Lord, and rebuilt their music careers and overtime fans received them back!) Also Adrienne and Israel Houghton met and became friends in 2013 while Israel was still married to Meleasa and while Adrienne was then dating Lenny Santiago! Their friendship lasted awhile and despite people's comments, they dated in March 2016 and dated for the next several months. In August 2016 they got engaged and got married at a small ceremony in November of 2016! What a rollercoaster year it was for them! It's Adrienne's only marriage while it's Israel's second marriage and Adrienne also became "stepmom" to Israel's kids from his previous relationships! Adrienne also sadly struggled with infertility for several years of her marriage to Israel but despite that they cleaved to God and each other despite that. But in 2022 they gave birth to a baby boy that brought joy to their family while keeping the Lord in the center of their marriage! They also have collaborated together multiple times especially on Israel's projects and continue to learn how to blend their family! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies! Whew what a woman who stood with the Lord and by her man despite comments others have made! May that be a lesson for us to stand firm in the Lord and stand for those we care about despite what others say! Blessings, happy Tuesday, and have a blessed week everyone.