Posted by: pastorapbell | March 23, 2012

as we jettison the harsh reality of Double Consciousness

Living in a world where you are not recognised or affirmed can lead to a position of confusion about yourself. This inability to know who you are and to be able to participate in your community effectively can leave the individual isolated and living in a hedonistic manner. This was the situation the Negro found himself in, during the twentieth century. He was liberated from slavery, but lived in a world where in one community he was affirmed and had status and in the other he was vilified. Were he to be in the wrong place at the right time, would lose his life [refer to the unarmed 17 year old young Black man, Trayvon Martin, killed in Florida on 27th February 2012 whilst coming from a 7-11 shop]. This dichotomy is called Double Consciousness and was coined by W.E.B. Dubois who was a 20th Century scholar. Although chattel slavery was abolished in the previous century (1834) the dehumanising effects were and are to a great extent still affecting the descendants of former slaves. This living in two worlds is typified by those who were given authority in their community and particularly in the church. For example; take someone who occupies the position of pastor in his church. This position carries authority, prestige and respect among his peers. However, because he has to work, in his secular job he works in a factory or does a labour intensive job. At his job he is ordered around and has little influence over the direction that the company is going in or the decision management take. In this world he has no authority; no influence; no say and is just another worker. So from Monday to Friday and on some Saturdays he is told what to do and how to do it.  On Sunday however, the boot is on the other foot. He is in the driving seat and can tell people what to do and how to do it. His hearers hang on his every word and seek his advice on a wide variety of topics. He has to navigate a path between these two worlds or else how he operates in one will spill over into the other. And more often than not it does spill over. The person who has little authority in one sphere can and does abuse the authority he has in the other and can cause major confusion and chaos. Many of us have witnessed this as people who are defined by others as a menial worker in the ‘world’ abuses their authority in the church.

How then do we overcome this problem of Double Consciousness?

Firstly we need to be delivered, and this deliverance only occurs by starting with our minds. Since we are saved [our spirits and consciences are connected to the eternal Spirit] and we look after our bodies, it is our minds that need to be renewed. This can only occur by the imbibing and by the impartation of knowledge.

This is how the apostle Paul puts it: “do not be conformed to this world. You must [this is an imperative] be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what the perfect, good and acceptable will of the Lord is for your life.” My prayer is that we become so conscientised that we can move beyond the barrier of Double Consciousness and be totally Christ conscious, starting from today. Read Romans 12 and start the deliverance process.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 21, 2012

as we learn to give double honour to those who watch over our souls

Wherever there is chaos there will always be confusion. And where confusion reigns, people will always revert to the natural instinct to survive. The basic instinct of flight or fight kicks in. The breakup of the family unit during the days of slavery set in motion a pattern that has continued for many generations from then. This is indeed the curse of slavery or the sin of slavery. As descendants of slaves, the propensity to disrespect authority and authority figures is still prevalent among us. This occurs at all levels and we see this happening from a young age among our children. I believe that this is a direct product of the Willie Lynch theory which goes against the biblical model of honour and respect for the elders. Among the generations of Christians who are supposed to be ‘in Christ’ there are many who still operate out of the state of confusion that the ‘sin of slavery’ has implemented. My contention is this: although these people are ‘saved’ and are in positions of authority, they have never been delivered by having their minds renewed. This undelivered mindset causes untold trouble for them and the fellowship they belong to as they are unable to work in harmony with most people.

This is how it works. They start off well and are very helpful, usually they are very talented people, but after a little while they initiate some confusion. This confusion is usually over trivia since their disrespect for authority or authority figures kicks in. So they complain, moan and get other undelivered people on their side to cause factions. Like the opponents of Moses during the Exodus, they always see the glass half empty, always have a better plan and are always willing to let the leadership know that they are hearing from God also. This spirit of rebellion is still prevalent among us and particularly so among those people whose ancestors justifiably rebelled against the slavers and institutional forms of racism that is still around today.

However, as people of God, we need to walk in the fact that Christ became the curse for us (Gal 3:13) so that we no longer need to operate under the curse and become slaves to sin. We can start the process of deliverance by repenting; repentance involves a change of mind, so that we can respect the leaders whom God has placed over us in the church and also in the community in spite of their character flaws.  Today, read 1Peter 2 to see how this new generation of Royal Priests should operate.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 17, 2012

as we reconstruct the created order

The purpose of being part of a family and part of a community is to be able to make a contribution to that family and community. This is the whole purpose of living. We should live for others and not exclusively for ourselves. If we do the latter we will end up lonely, bitter and isolated. This is a huge problem from many indigenous octogenarians today, many of whom end up in a care system that takes their money and offer little care in return. The recognised order is that grandfather teaches father who in turn teaches son and so on. If the father is absent or has not been taught himself there is nothing to pass on and the son has to work things out for himself by trial and error. Many of us fail to realise this principle from an early age and because of the inherent propensity to disrespect authority which has been passed down to us through the generational lineage, we end up ‘dissing’ the very people who should be passing the baton on to us. This is tantamount to the Wasp and the Bee scenario, viz. The Bee was teaching the Wasp to make honey. By the time the Bee taught him to make the honeycomb, the Wasp stung him believing that he did not need him any longer. And so today the Bee still makes honey and the Wasp can only make the honeycomb.

How did we come to the point of abhorring authority so much? The institution of the Willie Lynch theory dictates that we act against each other; betray each other; discriminates against each other because of skin shade and perpetuate this contention. From our roots and from the biblical narrative we are taught to respect our elders, care for those who are aged and learn from them. It is better to learn from someone else’s mistake than to keep on making the mistake from generation to generation. So today let us celebrate our elders and help those who are dissenters to reconnect with the community. Read 1Thimothy 5 and implement an honour system.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 16, 2012

as we learn our roles to play the part!

Although I am an individual I am still part of a bigger picture. It is this knowledge that enables me to think through my very existence and to reflect on the purpose for me being here. We are all passing through as the old song goes, none of us are here permanently and so at a particular point in the performance we take centre stage. Before we can do this however we have to learn our pats. This is the essence of putting in a good performance, learn your part well. The problems we face are that many of our men have not been given the script and so they just try to make it up as they go along. Being impetuous is great, but at really important points in the play we have to know what to do. And so birth, marriage and death and three very important points in this play called life. I am aware that although we are all born and we all die, not all of us ‘get’ married. Our faith and community should cater for this situation. This learning from those who are ahead of us in the game or the play is vital. Once inducted into the community any young person needs to follow in the footsteps of an older person. Today we call this mentoring. Other names used for this role are: Guru, Elder, Tutor, Supporter, Guide, Counsellor and Advisor. In the past our fathers were all of these. For my community, the Caribbean Diaspora, this position was circumvented and the father was taken away from the family and emasculated. The consequence of this is that we have generation after generation of men who procreate, but cannot father. They would beat and abuse their children rather than affirm them and take them through the various roles of this vast production. The pain of the past must be broken and this can only be achieved by our men being ‘born again’. The pain of separation, abuse and ill-treatment can and will be overcome, but those of us who are now at centre stage must play our parts and play them well. Read the writings of 1Peter, chapter 2 for some nuggets of wisdom.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 15, 2012

as we reconnect to the covenant connector, its the ‘rite’ thing to do!

I remember that it was on birthday on a particular day because of those who have nurtured and reared me. My existence is dependent on what I have taken on board from what I was taught as a youngster. Unfortunately the effects of separation and loss from an early age dictates that an individual  loses the ability to catch or to receive by osmosis the salient things that are required to go from child to boy to man. If this loss is perpetuated from father to son and so on, then a dis-connect with the past will occur and the information that should be filtered down is circumvented at some distant point in the past. The purpose of a rite of passage ceremony is to enable the giver and the receiver to establish a link with the past and continuity with the future. By this link being broken we are condemned to ‘short-termism’ which dictates that we live for the moment without plans or provisions for the future. In many instance we forget who we actually are and act and behave in ways that has been determined by others. William Dubois calls this notion of living in two worlds disconnected from each other, but conjoined like Siamese twins, ‘Double Consciousness’. From the moment I was born I was given all the pre-requisites to become a father. However this’ becoming’ was destined for sometime in the future and my gathering of information over the period of time from birth to my cross-over time, gives me the tools and the connectivity to safely navigate this journey.

The problems we face today, in our homes, in society and in the church of the living God stems from people who are adult chronologically, but still children in their thinking and therefore their actions.  I contend that many people, particularly those who were subjected to ravages of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, have never been taught or given the tools to ‘Cross-Over’. And many people leave this planet without fulfilling their roles of passing on the baton in a clear concise and effective manner. I further contend that, because of the ‘disconnect’, we cannot cross over unless we assume a new identity. This identity can only be found in Jesus Christ, whereby we are able to circumvent the ravages of the Slave Trade and re-connect with the father of creation, Yahweh. Having celebrated by birthday yesterday, I now re-celebrate it today knowing that my real birth occurred when I severed the link with the sin of slavery and plugged into the blessing that is promised to all those who are connected to Abraham. Read Numbers 6:22-27, Psalm 103:1-5.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 8, 2012

as we endeavour to ‘re-rite’ the wrongs of the past!

If I chose to forget who I am then I will act as someone without responsibility and direction. Without hope we act irresponsibly with short term goals. Short-termism is a methodology that allows us only to live for today and suffer the consequences of tomorrow when they arrive. This operation is a long way away from what Jesus taught his followers and goes against the grain of what was practiced by the ancestors of those taken to the Caribbean as slaves. For each male child to become a man and enter into the clan of adulthood, they had to go through a rite of passage. This would involve an initiation ceremony and briefing about what is required to maintain the legacy that is being passed on to them.  The whole community is involved in this process and so the person undertaking the ‘rite of passage’ is beholding to that community. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade demolished this and caused countless numbers of young people to grow up without a sense of belonging or an understanding of who they really are. The problem is compounded by these youngsters progenating and bringing children into the world without the necessary tools to navigate through to adulthood.  We need to reverse this trend and take our youngsters through this process so that they know and realise who they actually are. I chose to accept Jesus as my model and saviour. This gave me the spiritual connectivity with the past that I needed to establish myself as ‘saint’ whose destination is fixed. However, I still need to locate myself and my cultural identity. So I need to know about my mother and father and grandmother and grandfather so that I can understand where I am coming from. This knowledge gives me hope, a sense of belonging and the responsibility to know that one day I will be passing my baton to my progeny and will be influencing at least the next three generations to come, even though some are not yet born.  So rather than just living for now, let me
live for those who will be around in a hundred years time. Let me construct a story that will convey the essence of who I am and the truths of what I have committed my life to. And so I chose to remember that I am: African-Caribbean, Black, Christian, male, a father, a son, a husband, a brother and someone who carries an enormous amount of potentiality. The Israelite slave community knew who they were and was able to pass this information on from generation to generation until they reached their Promised Land.  Today, let us not forget who were are, and neither whose we are also. Read Deuteronomy 1:11.

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 7, 2012

as we reach back to move forward

As we trace our generational lineage we will find that there are certain issues that keep recurring among us that were prevalent among our ancestors. The typical example of this is when you go to the doctor for a check up. To determine what the likely cause of your problem is the doctor will ask a few pertinent questions, such as: is there any sort of illness that runs in your family? Did you dad or anyone in your family suffer from that ailment? And so on. Now if even those who are using natural means to bring healing recognise that issues pass from one generation to another, how much more should those who are dealing with the whole individual be aware of this? The need to remember our past is vital to be able to deal with issues of the past. An example of this is the prevalence among people from Caribbean heritage who chose not to get married but will live together for many years as a couple. Back in the eighteenth century in the Caribbean slavery was the order of the day. One theory which was employed to keep the slave impoverished and totally disjointed was to forbid them marry and to systematically take the men from plantation to plantation to ‘breed’ with other women just like prize stallions. This instituted the curse of illegitimacy which is still very prevalent among people from the Caribbean today.  After slavery was abolished in 1834 and slaves would now legally be married to their chosen partners, the propensity to do so was seldom taken up. More people chose to co-habit that to get legally married. The incident of men going about from woman to woman fathering children was still prevalent. What was instituted 300 years before was very hard to eradicate from the psyche.  Sadly today the situation is no different. I know a man who has ten children with as many different women and he feels no way about it. And sadly some of his off-springs will undoubtedly carry on the same pattern unless the curse is broken. The Willie Lynch curse was instituted to break up the community, the blood of Jesus was shed to bring us back into community and break the curse! Today let us chose the latter so that we can eradicate the former.  Read 1John 3.

 

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 6, 2012

as we seek out and find our true identity

Who am I? That is a pertinent question and not one to be taken lightly. The problem of identity is a huge one. It becomes even more pressing when a large majority of our youngsters are seeking to find their identity in gangs and possesses.  So the question we all need to address is, where do I belong and who am I?

The easiest way to destroy an individual is to isolate them and keep them ignorant of their heritage. This was the plan of the Amalekites during the biblical account of the journey of the people of God from the clutches of their tyrannical slave master, Pharaoh, towards the hill of the Lord. Like all those who are working for and carrying out the devils devices, their remit is to keep you enslaved. And one major ploy to do this is to rob you of knowing who you truly are.  As slaves, the people of God had no rights. They had no say in their socio-economic situation and no stake in the country they were helping to build up. Their only understanding of who they were, was through stories passed down to them, the rituals they participated in and the times they would get together and hear word pictures from elders of the community.  Having these pictures cemented in your mind enables you to connect with the past in such as way that you form an indelible link with those who have gone before. We must not worship those who have gone before, only honour their memory. The Willie Lynch theory was designed to break up the family unit of the slave community in the Caribbean and cause so much suspicion amongst them that they would fight against each other rather than the slave master.  For the Israelite slave community they kept their link with the past and somehow kept their identity whilst in enslavement. Over time, the Israelites forgot who they were and allowed the spirit of Amelek (latterly the Willie Lynch) spirit to infiltrate their community. So who am I? Once we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour and are born again, we belong to Jesus and are a part of the new kingdom. Once I know who I am and exercise my delegated authority, then I am free to be me. Read Galatians 1.

 

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 2, 2012

as we realise that remembering is what makes us fully human!

A significant part of being human is our ability to remember. Being fully human then is to have an autobiographical self, and not to be trapped in the present or the past, but to be able to draw on past experience in a myriad ways. A large amount of work has been done by neuroscientist who has examined many people with impaired brain function and as a result has learnt much about the circuitry that gives rise to normal waking consciousness and an autobiographical sense of self.

Memory is studied at different levels, from the molecular changes in synapses and neurons in the brain to the various types of cognitive processing of stored information and to the emotional dynamics of remembering.  There are a number of differing models of memory, but in broad terms memory comes in two forms—short-term memory and long-term memory. Long-term memory is sub-divided into several categories, such as procedural memory where we remember how to ride a bike, brush our teeth and so on.  The variety of remembering that we do, short-term and long-term, relies on lots of different neural circuitry and storage sites, all of which stack up together to make us fully human in our remembering, in our consciousness, in our self-awareness and identity. Without remembering we are deprived of the essentials of being human.

Other aspects of memory are further divided and sub-divided to define how we capture and retain life events.  All the various aspect of remembering gives us an indelible link and continuity with the past. This continuity with the past carries effects that are difficult to delete, even with skilled therapy. In terms of this life, these memories are forever. The Judeo-Christian narratives which are used as our paradigm for being a part of the kingdom of God are awash with signs, rituals, clothing that links its members with the past and hence gives them a sense of identity. To forget your building blocks is to forget your humanness and relinquish your connectivity with the created order of Yahweh. God wants us to live in a structured community so that no one is left isolated or left on the side to fend for themselves.  Read Deuteronomy 26.

 

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Posted by: pastorapbell | March 1, 2012

as we rmember not to forget!

Memory is a very important aspect of our lives. Without our memories it is difficult to know ourselves and to pass on the baton to those coming behind. In essence, it is difficult to be human.  And so in every culture, tribe and nation, individuals are given markers to help the process of remembering. A large part of being human is our ability to connect with the past and so when your history has been obliterated or deemed as meaningless, your very humanity is being challenged. The way memory works is very complex and intriguing. However, for us to remember significant event in our lives we place markers in time when those significant events occurred so that we can flag them up as and when needed. Once the people of God had left Egypt, they needed markers to remind them of where they were going, where they had come from and the reason why they were on this monumental journey. Similarly when we decide to follow Christ wholeheartedly, we constantly need to be reminded of the reasons why we do what we do and where our final destination is. Sadly for many of us, just like many of those people who came out of Egypt with Moses, our long term memory tends to become clouded by our short-term needs. And we forget about the bigger picture and concentrate on the here and now and the felt needs rather than long term real needs.

The sole purpose of slavery is to cause you to forget who you really are. The purpose of deliverance is to get you to remember whose you are and to whom you belong. To establish order in the people of God, Moses instituted a whole host of rituals, feasts and services. These were times when the people would re-enact the deliverance and relay stories about the mighty works of their God. Every individual needs to know about and to connect with their history. This knowledge allows us to order our lives by being able to reach forward with a sense of hope but be grounded by the realities of the past. So today refresh your memory of your recent historical past but lay the foundations for a monumental building in the future. Remember, if we forget who we are we cannot be a part of His Story! Read Exodus 19&20.

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