The Ministry In Me - Recently Updated Pages

Inspiring People

tishmeek — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:14:19 CDT

CLICK ON THE PERSONS NAME IN THE LEFT HAND PANEL TO GET THEIR BIO.

Poetry From The Heart

tishmeek — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:55:03 CDT

Pursuing Love

I pursued love in search for happiness and found none
I pursued happiness in search for love and found none
I pursued Wisdom & Knowledge in search for love & happiness but found in part love and gain sorrow.
I found in part love because out of love God gave me Wisdom & knowledge, but sorrow followed because the truth of the labor for love was made known to me.
When I pursued happiness in search for love; this task was a selfish journey of mine, because I wanted to be pleased in all aspects of life without the real labor for it, so I failed.
When I pursued love in search for happiness I found that love suffers long and there was no happiness in my suffering.
I found that love is kind and after suffering for so long it was a challenge for me to be kind.
I found that real love does not be envious, but the struggles of life at times made me and others jealous or want what other people may have; when humbleness and satisfaction of what you have suppose to dominate.
When I pursued love I found that love isn't a showcase of prideful attention seeking and it is not a provoked action, but a willing one to serve each other.
I found that it doesn't behave rudely, but with manners of courtesy. I found that it is not selfish but it is giving in all it's ways.
I found that it thinks not evil, but thinks only good, and it is not happy in any sin but only happy in the truth.
I found that it is a cross that we all are challenge to carry, bearing all things, believing in all things of good and sound report.
Love hopes in all things that are challenging, in part, and things that is not yet complete, love endures it all.
The journey of love, pain, forgiveness, hurt, brokenness, patience, etc.. I found that this journey cannot fail to reap the good report that all people seek for their lives.
Even though the truth of the labor of love gave me much sorrow it also gave me peace, because this love that I found in part through Wisdom & knowledge is just a partial piece of this life's journey because I have a piece to work with.
If we all re-approach this journey and pursue love from an unselfish point of view and motive while cautiously follow the rules while openly knowing that the beginning of love is suffering and not let the suffering redirect our paths to unhappiness. If we bear it all, forgive each other, and be humble while being satisfied with what we have. If we be kind and love out of pure willingness, and always treat each other with good manners and curiosity. If we would always give and put each other before ourselves. If we would always think good and be happy in the truth and never in evil or the fall of another. If we would believe in things of good and sound report, and have hope in all things even if it challenges each and every one of us.
Lastly; IF WE ENDURE!
If we would endure it all until the end and anticipate to see the victory coming from the labor of our love. We can claim the reward of happiness on earth, because we have activated the actions of hope and accelerated the faith in love while walking in and with Christ..
Then we all will be able to speak the words of the Corinthians with true belief and testify that "Love Never Fails"

------ Written By Tishmeek 08/03/2008

Barack Obama

tishmeek — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:21:40 CDT

Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Although reared among Muslims, Obama, Sr., became an atheist at some point.
Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe in Patton’s army. Dunham’s mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G. I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.
Meantime, Barack’s father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya pursue his dreams in Hawaii. At the time of his birth, Obama’s parents were students at the East–West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Obama’s parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama’s father went to Harvard to pursue Ph. D. studies and then returned to Kenya.
His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro–Ng was born. Obama attended schools in Jakarta, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.
Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and later his mother (who died of ovarian cancer in 1995).
He was enrolled in the fifth grade at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African–American.
In his memoir, Obama described how he struggled to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He saw his biological father (who died in a 1982 car accident) only once (in 1971) after his parents divorced. And he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years.
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.
After working at Business International Corporation (a company that provided international business information to corporate clients) and NYPIRG, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city’s South Side.
It was during this time that Obama, who said he "was not raised in a religious household," joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. He also visited relatives in Kenya, which included an emotional visit to the graves of his father and paternal grandfather.
Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.
After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School. And he helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.
Obama published an autobiography in 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. And he won a Grammy for the audio version of the book.
Obama’s advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat. He was elected in 1996 from the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park.
During these years, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. And after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U. S. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush.
Following the 9/11 attacks, Obama was an early opponent of President George W. Bush’s push to war with Iraq. Obama was still a state senator when he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq during a rally at Chicago’s Federal Plaza in October 2002.
"I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars," he said. "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne."
"He's a bad guy," Obama said, referring to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history."
"I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U. S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences," Obama continued. "I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda."

The war with Iraq began in 2003 and Obama decided to run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. In the 2004 Democratic primary, he won 52 percent of the vote, defeating multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes.
That summer, he was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues.
"We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states," he said. "We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
After the convention, Obama returned to his U.S. Senate bid in Illinois. His opponent in the general election was suppose to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, a wealthy former investment banker. However, Ryan withdrew from the race in June 2004, following public disclosure of unsubstantiated sexual allegations by Ryan's ex wife, actress Jeri Ryan.
In August 2004, diplomat and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who was also an African American, accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. In three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers and tax cuts.
In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%, the largest electoral victory in Illinois history. Obama became only the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction.
Sworn into office January 4, 2005, Obama partnered with Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana on a bill that expanded efforts to destroy weapons of mass destruction in Eastern Europe and Russia. Then with Republican Sen. Tom Corburn of Oklahoma, he created a website that tracks all federal spending.
Obama was also the first to raise the threat of avian flu on the Senate floor, spoke out for victims of Hurricane Katrina, pushed for alternative energy development and championed improved veterans´ benefits. He also worked with Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin to eliminate gifts of travel on corporate jets by lobbyists to members of Congress.
His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006.
In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with former first lady and current U.S. Senator from New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton until he became the presumptive nominee on June 3, 2008.
Obama met his wife, Michelle, in 1988 when he was a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin. They were married in October 1992 and live in Kenwood on Chicago's South Side with their daughters, Malia (born 1998) and Sasha (born 2001).

Iyanla Vanzant

tishmeek — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:53:12 CDT

You Will Find Some Amazing Videos Of Her At The Bottom Of This Page.

Biography / Criticism

Iyanla (pronounced EE-Yan-LA) Vanzant was born Rhonda Vanzant in 1953 in Brooklyn, N.Y in the back seat of a taxicab with the given name of Rhonda Fleming. At the age of two, she was sent to live with her grandmother, after the death of her mother. After a severe beating at the hands of her grandmother, she went to live with her father and stepmother. Vanzant was later shuffled off to an aunt whose husband repeatedly raped her. She tried many times to tell of her abuse but each time her voice was never heard.
Vanzant's teen years were filled with pregnancy, abuse and loneliness. She had her first child at the age of 16 and married for a short period at the age of 19. After two marriages, three children and a nervous breakdown, Vanzant decided that there had to be more to life. In the middle of the night, she left her abusive husband taking only the things she could carry, three children and a bag filled with clothes. After months on welfare and living in poverty, Vanzant saw a sign that changed her life. It was an ad for Medger Evers College. She enrolled at Medger Evers in New York, where she received her Bachelor of Science in 1983 and graduated summa cum laude. She later attended Queens College and received her law degree in 1988. Vanzant then moved to Philadelphia and practiced law for four years. While working with a group of women on public assistance and creating lectures about changing their lives, Vanzant wrote Tapping the Power Within: A Path to Empowerment for Black Women in 1992. This book, containing basic spiritual principles, self-affirmations, and personal rituals, was used to uplift and motivate women on welfare. For Vanzant, this was the beginning of a new career. She started seeking spiritual growth, leaving her job as a public defender without giving a notice in search of growth and happiness. Vanzant has empowered women of all classes, races and socio-economic backgrounds. There are no boundaries in her self-help books. A regular on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Vanzant is a motivational speaker, spiritual counselor, ordained minister, and Yoruba priestess. She changed her name from Rhonda to "Iyanla," meaning "great mother," after she became a Yoruba priestess. One major role of the priestess is to give advice to her followers or congregation. This is probably an influence on her motivations for writing the large volume of works that she has. Vanzant has written 18 books to date. In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love That You Want is a book that addresses single people who are looking for love. Vanzant discusses how to make oneself whole in order to be able to find what you are looking for. Her advice is good and well-put, with practical applications and examples. She likens the journey to completion within oneself to a house, where one must start at the basement, and work up to the attic. She feels that the only way one can have a fulfilling relationship with another person is to feel totally comfortable with oneself. Vanzant's role as a spiritual advisor shows through her words and examples. She makes it clear that spirituality is important in understanding life. Her advice centers around issues that pertain more centrally to people of color, appealing to a specific audience. This book has received good reviews and is a good guide for those looking for help on self-improvement. Yesterday, I Cried is a book that is autobiographical in nature. It tells Vanzant's own life story and how she made it through the struggles in her life. She was raised in an abusive household, being sexually abused by her uncle after losing her mother at the age of three. She entered an abusive marriage at 19 and found herself caught in the system of welfare. She was a single mother of three children and earned several degrees. This book provides a source of hope to women who are caught in situations in which they feel trapped, and offers valuable advice on how to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. She counsels people on how to find happiness and reach their peak of spiritual growth. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up guides people on a 40-day spiritual journey to find themselves. This book echoes many ideas seen in other books, but can not be confused with any of her others. Her choice of words are rich and beautiful, and again she steers her writing predominantly to people of color. She provides good advice on how to release angry and poisonous emotions, a skill she feels is lacking in many people. Her advice is practical and easy to follow with reasonable expectations. Vanzant has been on Oprah several times detailing her crusade to help African American women become stronger and more empowered. Both Oprah and Vanzant have noted that the shows have been very beneficial not only to the viewers, but also to themselves. Oprah even invited Vanzant back to have "Iyanla Tuesdays." She dedicated one show a month to remember "single women looking for love" by bringing on the most inspirational guest the Oprah show has seen. On one show, Vanzant talked specifically to men, stating that "one of man's greatest desires is to make women happy." Oprah and Vanzant talked to men from the audience about fear and finding the right woman. Overall, it appears as though Vanzant will be joining Oprah many more times to help people gain strength in their personal and spiritual lives. On November 22, 1998, Dateline (NBC) aired a show featuring the life ofIyanla Vanzant. This piece showed the author reaching out to women through her conferences and books. Vanzant tells the story of her harsh childhood being beaten and raped. The news magazine shows Vanzant with a small group of women, spending time sharing with each other to empower themselves. Through her story it seems that women can connect and find healing. Of her work, Vanzant says, "My books aren't self-help, they're God-help."

Selected Bibliography

Works by the Author

Every Day I Pray (2002)
Up from Here: Reclaiming the Male Spirit (2002)
Until Today!: Daily Devotions for Spiritual Balance and Peace of Mind (1999)
Entrentanto: Descruba Su Propia Yo y Il amor que Ansia (1999)
Daily Ghetto Meditations: Affirmations for the Ghetto in You (1999)
The Good Company: A Woman's Journal for Spiritual Reflection (1999)
Don' t Give It Away: A Work Book of Self Awareness and Self Affirmation (1999)
Yesterday I Cried: Celebrating the Lessons of Living and Loving (1999)
One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: Forty days and Forty Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth (1998)
In the Meantime: Finding yourself and the Love You Want (1998)
Success Gems: Your Personal Motivation Success Guide (1997)
The Big Book of Faith (1997)
The Spirit of a Man: A Vision of transformation of Black Men and the Women Who Love Them (1997)
Actos de Fe:Medicaciones Diarios para Mejorar el Espriitu (1996)
Faith in the Valley: Lessons for Women on the Journey to Peace (1996)
Interiors: A Black Woman's Healing In Progress (1995)
The Value in the Valley: A Black Woman's Guide Through Life's Dilemmas (1995)
Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color (1993)
Tapping the Power within: A Path to Self Empowerment for Black Women (1992)

Video Title "Looking For Salvation"
Video Title "Your Eyes Will Adjust"
Video Title "Working Through Fear"
Video Title "Healing Pricinples"

The Ministry In Me Home

tishmeek — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:47:57 CDT

THE COVENANT

The covenant in the spiritual realm is just as real as any covenant of the natural. In your life you have made covenants and some you have kept and others you have not. I challenge you to think about what covenants you have made and didn't keep and the ones that you made but are not holding up to your end of the bargain. This is your first step into discovering the Ministry In You all the while you will be learning to be faithful in all your duties with you family and any streams of people outside of your household. The bottom line is that it starts with you and branches off into your family then spreads into the world around you. I have two covenants the first one is with God, and the second one is with my family and all other people that crosses my path in this world.
Through out my life I have encountered many people with a special volume about themselves that is not on the line of selfishness but on the line of great concern for the well being of others. These people made me stop and take notice and so I studied and compared their actions on the line of the actions and Ministry of Jesus Christ and I was blown away. I felt that I finally have witness the real ministry of Christ outside of the traditional church on Sunday morning and I was inspired. I have joined this underground movement meaning I have became apart of the many people that teaches and labors the ministry of Christ. I have adopted this source of humbleness and service along with witnessing the so-called downside of this great concern for others. I called it a downside because many people don't consider a person doing or being part of the ministry if they are not in the view of others to be seen or judge on what they are doing; in other words "being in the spotlight".
My ministry at this moment are my children and my family along with extended friends and distant family, but because my ministry is not in the pulpit I have been labeled in peoples minds as not saved. When all the while I am very misunderstood by many while being alienated with the feeling of loneliness and watching people's perception of me in their minds, hearts, and actions very unwelcoming and judgemental.
The pulpit is (from Latin pulpitum "scaffold", "platform", "stage") is a small elevated platform where a member of the clergy stands in order to read the Gospel lesson and deliver a sermon.
I am that small elevated platform in my household.
In spite of all the downfalls,stumbling blocks, sins, imperfections, and the undesirable emotions that comes my way. I always manage to get up and get out. God stills honors His covenant with me not just because of praying people but because of his desire to continue to do so. He still gives that spiritual goodness that is vital to my balance of survivor ship in this world while touching every person that would listen.
Please feel free to make your mark and stand outside of the box and do what is mandated for you to do. Everyone has the a vision for you but listen to your own and you will be content in your life. Always find time to forgive and pray for those who don't understand.

----Tee Jones