Thursday, July 16, 2009

Homosexuality IV: The christian POV.

This is my conclusion to this controversial topic. The final issue I plan to tackle in dealing with this topic is - What does the bible say about homosexuality in particular and sex in general?( I am a Christian, so that is the only worldview I can work with)

As prudish and unrealistic as this may sound, this is the Christian standard: No sex before marriage, and no homosexual sex – period!! As we have established earlier, the person who commits adultery or fornication is no better than the person who engages in homosexuality.

There are three main passages in the bible that deal with this issue (of homosexuality):

i)There is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (found in Genesis 19) where the principal reason for the destruction of the cities was supposed to be homosexuality.

The gay response? “The Genesis 19 account of Sodom and Gomorrah is a story of attempted gang rape of two "outsiders." It says nothing about loving gay relationships, and actually condemns the sort of violence sometimes done to gays and lesbians.” (read the rest here and also this interesting defense.


ii) There is the invocation in Leviticus 18:22
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

Gay defense: National Gay Pentecostal Alliance (NGPA) interpretation: The NGPA has produced a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew. 4 In English, with minimal punctuation added, they rendered it as: "And with a male thou shalt not lie down in beds of a woman; it is an abomination. That is, "... rather than forbidding male homosexuality, it simply restricts where it may occur." This may seem a strange prohibition to us today, but was quite consistent with other laws in Leviticus which involve improper mixing of things that should be kept separate. e.g. ancient Hebrews were not allowed to mix two crops in the same field, or make cloth out of two different raw materials, or plow a field with an ox and a donkey yoked together. A woman's bed was her own. Only her husband was permitted there, and then only under certain circumstances. Any other use of her bed would be a defilement
.

This is just one interpretation that they put forth. There are several more.
Read the whole thing – Veeery fascinating.

iii)Then there is the passage in Romans: Romans 1: 26-28, which reads:
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting

Gay interpretation: Some question whether the word "perversion" in Verse 27, and "such things" in Verse 30 are related to only certain types of gay and lesbian behavior. e.g.: Homosexual orgies, or
Group same-gender sexual practices in a religious setting. This was a common practice among Pagans at the time; e.g. in the temples dedicated to the Goddess Aphrodite. Casual homosexual activities outside of a committed, monogamous two person relationship, or Homosexual molestation between a man and a child. In Paul's day, the child victim was often a slave.

These probably were the only forms of same-sex activity that Paul was familiar with. Paul may well have not been thinking of gays and lesbians in committed relationships when he wrote this passage. He never referred to such couples in his writings, and probably never encountered any during his lifetime. He might simply have been condemning homosexual orgies and other sexual activities outside of a monogamous same-sex relationship.
Read the rest


If I had to play devil’s advocate, and anticipate the argument from the other side, I would admit that there is stuff from Leviticus that I ignore – I eat all sorts of seafood for instance, there is stuff from Paul that I don’t really obey – like covering my head in church, and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah – could be subject to interpretation if you so chose, I suppose.
However, there are several other verses, some of them pretty harsh that literally promise fire and brimstone for homosexual activity. All put together, they paint a certain picture – that sexual activity in Christiandom is limited to a man and a woman in a marital relationship – PERIOD!

For those who want objective, scientific answers, here is the truth: There is none. This is a question that can only be answered based on your worldview. If you have a faith-based worldview, then you just have to believe what the bible says. And if you don’t….., well I guess you have the right to live based on how you see life and eternity as well.

How do we handle the disagreement? Don't ask me, I have no idea. There are no easy answers, but I doubt that criminalizing is the way to go. The only way to change behavior is to change people's hearts.



One last interesting titbit before I leave this topic alone:

A couple of weeks ago, this lady pastor was all over the news. Obviously, one of her congregants was gay, and they decided that the solution was to carry out an exorcism. Then they posted the process on youtube, and all hell broke loose. It was interpreted by those outside the church as gay abuse. I found it interesting that nobody in the larger church body had anything to say ( that I am aware of anyway) about this. Everybody kind of kept their head down until the wind blew over.

See for yourself:



It sounds kooky to the CNN interviewer, but she is preaching the christian POV. Actually, any African pentecostal church would do the same thing. I applaud her courage standing up for her beliefs, even as if forces a realization upon the rest of us that the christian worldview is not popular and unlikely to be applauded by the larger society.

This whole series started with a policy question: Should homosexuality be criminalized? Now I ask another one: should Christians be casting out the "evil spirit"?

Well, I could say much more, but I will just leave it at that.
Comments, insights, etc are welcome from both sides. We need to keep having a civil conversation about these things even if we don't agree.


Ciao!

p.s did you notice this interview was done the same day MJ died? That is why I think everybody forgot about it so quickly.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Kimberly Anyadike: Teen inspiration

This teenager has in her short life achieved more than most people ever will. This is what potential and ability coupled with opportunity can achieve. Makes me sad to think of all the potential lost in our beloved motherland because of irresponsible, selfserving leadership.

Anyways, back to Kimberly:

She departed with a dream and returned home a record-breaker.

Inspired by the Tuskeegee Airmen, 15-year-old Kimberly Anyadike flew a single-engine Cessna cross-country from her hometown of Compton, Calif., to Newport News, Va.

Anyadike is thought to be the youngest African American female pilot to complete the journey, which took 13 days. She arrived home in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 11.

Full story



Video of her arriving and a small interview:



There is also video of her interview with CNN here


Amazing young lady!

Ciao.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Comedy spotlight: Offering time, blessing time!!

First of all, I need to apologize for the long break in transmission. Too much to do, so little time (sigh!). However, I am going to get back to regular blogging now.


Today, I introduce Brother Franklin, the most cheerful giver I have ever seen. Dude has become a youtube sensation with his offering time antics. I have not stopped laughing since I saw it, and I am sure you will be tickled too!






Turns out the the guy has become an internet sensation. I googled him and I was amazed by the number of blogs that were featuring the guy - some of them gave him some love, while others were not so enthusiastic. In addition, his smooth dance moves were apparently featured on ESPN's sportcenter. I have trolled the site trying to find the footage to no avail.

Some dude took a montage of Bro Franklin's best dance moves and set them to Terry G's Halleluia. I dunno how appropriate the song is for a spiritual Bro. Franklin, but I will admit, it made me laugh.


The entire discussion on all the blogs and on youtube are interesting. Some people think he is a worshipper in the mould of King David, while others think he is an attention seeker. I just think he is hilarious!! I wonder what my pastor would say if I did that next Sunday? LOL!

Oh, and just in case you like many others want to see Bro Franklin "perform" live, he is just a plane ride away. Here is the church address:

Redeemed Christian Church of God-Pavilion of Redemption 7707 Bissonnet St., Houston,TX, 77074

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Reflections on Wimbledon


Oh Andy!!!

You know, I really got into Wimbledon this year, even though I have so much going on. By the time the weekend and the finals rolled around, I was totally emotionally invested, pumped and psyched. Like everyone else, I was expecting the Fed to rollover Andy Roddick, because there was just no way we were going to get a final like that Nadal-Federer match that occurred last year. Deep down though, I was hoping Roddick would give a fight. I had watched his semifinal match against Murray, and dude was really good, so I was rooting for him.

Sunday morning, I got up, watched the first set while preparing for church. Roddick won it 7-5. I did some quick calculations in my head, knew Roger would come back, and concluded that it would be at least a four set match. So I went to church, came back one and a half hours later, and there they were, still slamming away. It eventually went to the fifth set, and what a set it was - astonishing! Thrilling! Competitive! Evenly matched! Andy Roddick was like the rock of Gibralter - unflappable, unmovable, unyielding. It went on to 14 games. 14!!!! DANG! I was almost praying for Roddick - like ahah! Which one now? What else does a person have to do to win Wimbledon?

When it came to championship point for the Fed, I was willing Andy to survive it. I was praying the Fed would not break him. When he lost, I nearly cried o - chei! The ting pain me no be small. I was heartbroken. This was supposed to be Andy's year dang it!! But anyways, that is life - input does not always equal output. Not every story has a fairy tale ending. I still find it extremely sad though(sob, sob).

Some highlights here:





Anyways, while I found Roger Federer's story amazing (15 slams? Chei!!) I must say that Andy's determination inspired me. All the odds, numbers, popular sentiment were against him. But it was clear that the dude believed in himself and in his training. And he easily could have won it. He has my total and complete respect, and I really hope that this does not break his spirit. Please come back next year and win because you can!

As for the ladies finals, one of my cousins - also a tennis freak, has renamed Wimbledon Williamsdon (I need to call him sef!! LOL). Those Williams sisters have totally dominated that court since 2001 - absolutely astonishing!! It is really amazing to see people that good at what they do.

You can watch highlights of their match here:



Much respect, ladies, much respect.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Music Spotlight: from KUSH to Dapo Torimiro


All the ex-KUSH members have done extraordinarily well for themselves, showing what a quality group KUSH was. However, catching up on what Dapo has been doing since KUSH made me go WOW!! Talk about moving up in the world!! Dapo is now a big boy in America o. He is a songwriter, producer, film scorer etc, etc, and has worked with names you will most certainly recognise if you listen to American music at all - John Legend, Elliot Yamin, Jordin Sparks etc, etc. Can you imagine? Dude went to UNILAG o! Just goes to show that your talent will open doors if you have faith in GOD and believe in yourself. Check out his website here and be impressed. I most certainly was!!

He was also Emem (Mem'O)'s producer for the greenlight song. In addition, he recently won the Nigerian Entertainment Awards International producer of the year award.

Some of the work he has done:
Torimiro's first break was placing the song "Quickly" on five-time Grammy winner John Legend's third studio album, Evolver, which was released in Fall of 2008. Featuring multi-platinum-selling artist Brandy, Quickly received early industry buzz as not only an inspired, sleek duet featuring R&B/pop music's leading artists, but also as one of the album's stand-out gems. Later in the Fall of 2008, Torimiro also enjoyed credit for other tracks, including "Running" on David Archuleta's self-titled debut album (November 11, 2008) -- his first since becoming runner-up on American Idol in June 2008—and "Torn Down" from Brandy's highly-anticipated album, Human (December 9, 2008), which she describes as her most personal album to date. Torimiro teamed up with the award-winning production duo Midi Mafia (50 Cent, Fantasia) in Los Angeles to collaborate on various projects.

In the Spring of 2009, Torimiro received songwriter and producer credit for the tracks "Know Better", "Apart From Me", and "This Step Alone" on Fight for Love, the sophomore album by American Idol Season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin, which was released on May 5, 2009. He also received credit for "Forever in You", which was included on the album as an iTunes and Japan bonus track.

Torimiro worked with two-time Grammy-winning producer Jeffrey Weber to record a song for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign called "Change."


Source



Here is the song he wrote for John Legend - Quickly



And this is Dapo performing with Oscar Brown Jr. on the Tavis Smiley Show.




Impressive stuff huh?

Gospel Music Spotlight: from KUSH to Mem'O


Emem Ema, aka Mem'O was the rapper girl in KUSH. She gave the group swagger and an "edge".

So what has she been up to since KUSH?

After her introduction to the music industry with Nigerian gospel music pioneers KUSH, Emem Inyang decided to focus on discovering and developing talent out of a passion for the industry and what it portends. This led to the birth of one of the pioneer Creative Arts Management Company in Nigeria, ONE Integrated Management Co.รข€¨She won the first ever British Council, International Young Music Entrepreneur (Nigeria) Award in 2006, was nominated as Young Entrepreneur of the year at the 2007 Future Awards and has been a major contributor to the development of the Nigerian entertainment Industry.
All this is asides the fact that she is a part of the history making, industry defining, Nigerian International group KUSH. Most people know her as Emem Ema but as an artiste, she would rather be known as MemO!
Source

She has also since returned to the studio, and her single "Greenlight" is currently burning up the charts in Nigeria. I will be honest and say that rap is not really my thing - I much prefer ballads. But you can check out her rhyme here. It has a catchy tune and a positive message, so if you like rap.......

Ciao.