Articles by Lance Lewis
 Any old school gospel fans out there? I’m talking the Hawkins Fam, the Winans, (no not B.B. or C.C.) vintage Richard Smallwood, Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Choir and of course the original Commissioned? When I got saved back in the early 80’s they began to dominate the gospel scene. Teens and young adults loved to hear gospel music that actually sounded like it was written in and recorded in 1980 rather than 1950. As time wore on these groups changed and faded, but their sound was indelibly impressed on my mind and heart.
This coming Sunday millions of people will attend a church and engage in worship. What will happen in many of those church’s is the subject of this post. How do we view worship today? I recently read a news story that reported on how evangelical churches are spending billions of dollars on the latest audio-visual equipment. Many houses of worship are pressing to look and feel like the latest high tech concert venues and more and more worship appears to be a well put together variety program.
The day had finally arrived. A little more than a week ago the President of the United States called a special joint session of Congress and the Supreme Court. The President gave no indication of the reason for such a rare meeting and though sources said that Congress and the Supreme Court have an idea of what’s going on they’ve kept it to themselves.
 It was a fantastic journey preceded by a spectacular deliverance. Just over three months ago the Hebrews had been the perpetual slaves of the Egyptian empire. Though slavery had been part of humanity for at least hundreds of years this was one of the first instances where an entire people were enslaved solely based on ethnicity.
Is Obama Black enough? That is one of the major questions/issues hovering around Illinois Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama. For some the answer is easy. According to columnist Debra J. Dickerson “Obama isn't black.
 "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Those powerful words from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s speech at the March on Washington in 1963 were words to live by for a generation. Among other things Dr. King noted that “This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.�
{Well I} woke up this mornin' with my mind
stayed on freedom.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind,
stayed on freedom.
Woke up this mornin' with my mind
stayed on freedom.
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah.
With this song and many others brave, non-violent freedom fighters faced the taunts, jeers, threats and violence of their enemies.
"Now when it comes down to religion and I'm finished with this. When it comes down to religion it's all about God. But God is not of any one religion. HE CANNOT BE.
How does God speak today? How should you go about discerning His voice? How should the church decide what to believe, teach, and promote regarding God, His Son and the gospel of Jesus Christ? How should believers seek God’s direction regarding the important issues of their lives? In what ways should we settle disputes that arise about church believe and practice? Are our beliefs and practices based on our experiences plus scripture, the private revelations from people who say they’ve heard directly from God plus the scripture or on scripture alone? This is crucial because churches, families and individuals will pursue their relationship with God based on something. We’ll submit to the guidance of our own experiences, a pastor/guru or the scriptures.
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The Council of Reforming Churches is a new broadly reformed network of churches dedicated to bringing the light of the reformation to the black church and black community. We exist to see biblically reformed theology sown, take root in, flourish among and eventually become the dominant theology within the black church and African-American community.
The Council of Reforming Churches exist to bring reform to the black church. That statement has at least two assumptions. The first is that reform is needed in what we commonly know as the black church. The second is that we will continue to have a black church that needs reform.
The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line. Thus wrote the insightful and prophetic scholar and sociologist Dr. W.E.B. Dubois in the Atlantic Monthly, 1901. His words proved true as America continued to struggle with the contradictory notions of proclaiming and fighting for worldwide democracy while at the same time denying the benefits of said democracy to millions of its citizens solely on the basis of skin color.
 Sunday mornings used to mean something special to me. But I now face them with dread, with a bittersweet sorrow that tugs at my heart and a headache-inducing tension that makes me reach for the Advil. I am torn between my desire to play hooky from church and my Pentecostal indoctrination that Sunday is the Lord's day, a day of worship when real men are supposed to lead their families into the house of God.
Why are bible believing Christians so adamant about Jesus being the one and only way to obtain a perfect, permanent relationship with God the Father? In a world torn by religious strife and hatred isn’t it prudent to share Jesus as one of many ways to God? Wouldn’t it be more humble to admit that none of us can really know the mind of God and therefore back up from the proclamation of Jesus and Jesus alone? And wouldn’t it be a whole lot easier to have a faith that respects and accepts the truth claims of others?
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 Imagine a new family moves next door to you tomorrow. You being the hospitable sort you are invite them over for lemonade, grilled hamburgers and of course Star Trek reruns. Since you’ve been in the community for awhile your new neighbor asks you a few questions about the hood. Where’s a good cleaners? Where do you go food shopping? Where the place to get a good, smooth mocha latte? What about a sharp haircut? Where’s the post office, lowest priced gas station and nearest Blockbuster? Where do you go for good pizza, the nearest movie and all important Dunkin Donuts? You talk for a bit more and then just before he leaves the new neighbor asks “where do you go for truth around here?
 “My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling! He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block�. “God’s will for us is to be successful.� That’s a sample of the mission statements of a well known entertainer and local purveyor of the prosperity gospel. Both claim to define what God’s mission is and thus by extension what the church’s mission should be. Yet, what is the church’s mission?
In the second installment of the blog series 'To God Be Glory In The Church' our brother Michael Leach lays out the attributes of the church of God.
Our brother Michael Leach recently wrote a letter of exhortation to the brothers on the subject of God's church. The next few posts contain excerpts of that letter under the heading 'To God Be Glory In The Church.
The third installment of our current blog series features the marks of a biblical church as spelled out by our brother Michael Leach.
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About a year ago I wrote that among other things CRC is a group of churches that stand on an promote the historic five solas of the reformation. I return now to take a little bit more in depth look at each of the solas and why we believe they are still important and relevant for God’s church today.
In the last installment of our current blog series our brother Michael Leach exhorts us to press toward faithfulness in the biblical distinctives of the church so that we can avoid the pitfalls of recasting the church according to the shifting winds of our current culture.
 Our discussion continues with the first response to brother Eric's post which was submitted by Rev. Kevin Smith. Rev. Smith has served as the pastor of the Waston Memorial Bapist Church since Feb. 2004. He is a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where is also a candidate for the Ph.D degree. We welcome this brother to the discussion.
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For the next several days CRC will post the thoughts of several reformed African-American pastors and leaders who are attempting to bring the truths of reform theology into the Black church experience. We welcome your comments and thoughts but ask you to be respectful and stay on the topic. The first post is from our friend and brother Eric Redmond who serves as the Pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills MD and also as the 2nd VP of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was he who suggested that we take the time to comment on the issues he’s working through in his present pastoral context.
I've decided to weigh into the clash with a response to the veep's first question. I'm particularly interested in addressing it since CLF is a church plant of Tenth Presbyterian Church. While the answer springs from the the question the response isn't necessarily directed at my brother Eric himself. The answer is more of a reflection on the place of culture in the church at this time. I hope it's somewhat helpful.
 Let’s see how many times have I heard it and I’m sure you have too. The argument goes something like this: the church is irrelevant, impotent, outdated and ineffective in reaching our world today. One of the latest attacks on the church comes from George Barna in his book ‘Revolution’. According to Mr. Barna ‘For thousands of years, Christians have been inventing church, but neglecting to be the church Christ commissioned.
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 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month.  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
 It’s finally here. West Philly just got a brand new, ice clean Target store. They have everything from ipod’s to ironing boards. I can now get my film developed, while picking up a new crock-pot and sipping a latte from Starbucks. (face it folks they’re like the Borg, resistance is futile) Hopefully the management of this Target will keep the store clean, (I hate shopping in a store with cluttered aisles) feature superlative customer service (no one acting like I’m disrupting their entire life just because I have a simple question) and by all means open additional checkout lines before I’ve waited 20 minutes to pick up a pack of batteries.
Asked why, Victoria says, "Because that's the rules."
That's how this teenager responded when asked if she would identify the culprit of a violent crime. These 'rules' are the new, dangerous and sad code of our streets. It's a world where not only right is wrong and wrong is right but where thinking people actually believe that this is the way it should be. In this world Judas is the hero, Jesus the chump, the gospel is crap and the church a joke.
127. That’s the number so far. And despite a plethora of forums to address it the chances are that by the end of the year Philadelphia’s homicide rate will meet or exceed 400. Our best minds, best intentions and best efforts are utterly impotent to stop this plague from overwhelming our communities. Sadly, Philly isn’t unique among large cities in this regard. Most of our major cities are suffering from a rash of irrational murders and violence with no end in sight.
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Did I ever tell you about the time I got saved? No? Well let me tell you the story. I think I was in the fifth or sixth grade. There I was minding my own business when for some reason I aroused the ire of a certain very big and very mean high school student.Â
A number of years ago several houses in a Philadelphia neighborhood experienced a problem. It seems they were actually sinking. After the usual investigation by the city it was determined that these particular homes weren’t built on solid foundation. Over the years they began to sink and would soon have to be vacated. Those houses highlighted the necessity of a strong, solid foundation. For no matter how nice it looks and no matter how well it’s maintained a house built on a faulty foundation will never be able to fulfill its primary purpose.
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Where do you want to go today… a mind is a terrible thing to waste… be prepared… good to the last drop… we love to fly and it shows… what‘s in your wallet… America runs on Dunkin. . . For Christ, the Church and the Truth. Are any of your favorite mottos listed above?