Toni V. Lee

Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. - Robert A. Heinlein This is happening right now.  Great care should be taken when voting someone into power. As we are witnessing right now, terrible and grave things happen when the wrong folk are put into powerful places... Some of these people have always wanted to "reset" things to how they used to be, and once they were handed the power to do so, they quickly set their plans into action:  a speeding train into regression.  All we can do is brace ourselves, pray, and vote for change. Hopefully, when change comes it will correct the damage that's been done to our cultures and our Nation, closing the chasms of division. Pray!

They can be messy, vicious, and liars. They can be needy, weird, and a little bit crazy. Uppity, gossips, and two-faced. Yeah, they can be that too. They can be so holy, they are of no earthly good to you or anybody else they think are "beneath" them. They can be kind, loving, and always there. They can be supporters, advisors, and listeners. Best of all, they can friends. Who have I been describing? Family. Families are made up of a lot of different kinds of people. Some like each other...some don't. They are definitely not all friends. It's a true blessing when you have family members who are also genuine friends. 

Seasoning racist and bigoted actions with Jesus' name and scripture doesn't disguise or change the flavor of the actions.  It does make becoming a Christian less appealing to those not like you.

Have you noticed it, yet? I don't know...maybe it's just me. There's something different about the "flavor" of the current House of Representatives Democratic leadership. Something is happening there... The speeches have never seemed as passionate, mission oriented, and urgent as they seem to me now. It's like they're going all in to fight for something crucial to this Nation. Rep. Jamie Raskin:  I honestly love the bite-sized history lessons he drop in his speeches. It's like he's saying, "Let me tell you how we got here or why we do what we do." He doesn't just say stuff, he backs it up with hard, easily accessible facts. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: The man wades through the fluff, exposing hypocrisy and calling out foolishness.  He then focuses on  what's really important in a way everyone can understand. Rep. Maxwell Frost: The first Gen-Z member of Congress. He speaks with well thought out and clear common sense, drawing logical li...

My calling is not yours and yours isn't mine. In other words, we don't wear the same hats in ministry, but we are all working toward the same goal: building up the body of Christ--the Church. We are not all cheerleaders. If you hand some of us pom-poms, they will be waiving in our hands, not as we pump folk up, but as we speak truth to the weights and secrets that are holding them rooted.  Ministries operate differently. Please don't despise ministries that don't look and feel like yours. They are just as effective in walking in their purpose as you. Some encourage and exhort. And do it very effectively because that's the hat they wear. Some of us speak the truth in and out of season. We cry loud and spare not. We have to because it's the "hat" we wear.  For instance, Evangelists will visit a church and rip the covers off of "hidden" actions and sinful thoughts with the truth--for sin separates us from God, then move on leaving the Pastor to ...

For racists, there are only two races: white and non-white. Reading some comments, I'd say there are folk who don't realize they're sitting in the non-white bucket right along with me, sharing the same plight.  I have to wonder who some of these folk actually see when they look in the mirror.  Maybe they've never encountered a racist bold enough to blow their delusions, letting them know which bucket they're actually sitting in.  There is always a racist or closet racist looking for opportunities for regression--to strip away any measures that foster equality.  Some of these folk are being handed the power they need to accomplish this. It's a mistake to become comfortable, believing we have overcome...we are yet overcoming.

Ever had bills that had to be paid and there was not enough cash or savings to use to pay them?   You have no cash and savings, but you do have a credit card. You pull it out of the sock drawer and use it to pay your bills (mortgage, rent, grocery, power, utilities, etc.). Since you don't have enough cash to pay the credit card balance off every month, the balance grows. You eventually hit your credit limit and your financial situation hasn't changed, so you ask for an increase to your credit limit so you can continue to pay your bills. You get the increase, you continue to pay your bills...and your debt continues to grow. That, my friend, is a very oversimplified explanation of the USA National debt and why the debt ceiling (the amount the government is allowed to borrow to pay its bills) is continuously raised. If the USA defaults (doesn't pay its bills), there are grave economic consequences for the USA and economies around the world could be shaken. Some folk don't ...