Historic Saint Paul Community Baptist Church

In Acts 10:34 – 35 the Apostle Peter is preaching in the house of Cornelius in the city of Caesarea. What makes this unique is Cornelius is a gentile. He is an officer in the Roman army and Jews were forbiden according to the law to enter the home of a gentile. Yet not only does Peter enter the home of this gentile, but he preaches the message of the gospel. A few days earlier God gave both Peter and Cornelius visions. In Peter’s vision, he was praying but he was also hungry. While hungry, God placed before him a sheet with many animals on it. Then God  tells Peter to kill the animals, cook them and eat them. Peter responds, I cannot do that God because these animals are unclean. God says to Peter “Do not call unclean what I have cleansed”. He sees this same vision three times. After the third time, he wakes up but he doesn’t understand the meaning of it. In Cornelius’ vision God simply sends an angel to his home and tells him to send two of his servants to the city of Joppa, to the home of a man called Simon the tanner. They are to ask for one Simon Peter, he has a message for you. He sends for Peter. Peter came,  preached the gospel and Cornelius and his entire family, servants and friends were saved. Peter concluded “In truth, I understand that God doesn’t show favoritisim, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him” Acts 10:34 – 35, Holman Christian Study Bible.

Though God does not show favoritism, unfortunately people do. America was built on the premise of freedom and equal opportunity for all people. Regardless of your ethnicity, religion and socio – economic status, America presented herself as the land of opportunity for all people. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free” are the words to one of our national hymns. It seems for many years this was true, as long as the huddled masses yearning to breath free were of European descent. The refugees from Western and Eastern Europe, Germany, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and the like were welcomed as they were processed through Ellis Island. But the refugees of color are facing much more difficulty. If you are Haitian, Dominican, Caribbean, African or Hispanic  American citizenship has beome a bit more illusive.

Just this past week, many Republicans in the United States Senate and House of Representatives openly criticized President Barak Obama for his executive order in regards to immigration. Our president took action according to the law as he promised he would do about immigration. The Republican legislators never intended to work with the president on anything. They have been obstructionists since the day he took the oath of office. They  vowed never to cooperate with him, on anything. Because of our president’a actions, families will now be allowed to stay together. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of instances where the parents came to this country illegally yet their children were born in this country. If you deport  the parents, where does that leave the children? All the  president said was if you’ve been in this country five years or more, have no criminal record, and are willing to pay your taxes, you can apply for citizenship without fear of deportation.

That’s the true meaning of family values. The president is keeping families together and for this, some are threatening impeachment, defaulting on the national debt, or shutting down the governemt.  Please, get a life! I don’t agree with the president on everything, but on this I do agree. He stepped up and took action where congress failed. He did it by “Executive Order”. Was that illegal, no! Do you not know that after the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by “Executive Order.” His “Executive Order” took effect on January 1, 1863. It was called the “Emancipation Proclamation”.  Incidentally, the racists didn’t like Abraham Lincoln either. Some of us still believe that all man are created equal and God does not show favoritism.

Jesus said in John 8:44 that the “Devil is a liar and the father of lies”. The Devil has taken a perfectly good and noble symbol given by God and turned it into a symbol of perversion, decadence, and depravity. Such is the case with the rainbow. As the universal flood that came as a judgment of God upon the earth because of sin in the days of Noah came to an end, God promised Noah and all humanity that never again would he destroy the earth by water. After the flood, God made a covenant, a promise with humanity. God promised that the earth would never again be destroyed by water.  To seal the covenant, God promised us in Genesis 9:13 – 17 saying, “I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature … This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth”.

God placed a rainbow in the clouds guaranteeing that the earth will never again be destroyed in a flood. However, the Devil usurped the sign. Now the “Rainbow” is the symbol of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, aka the LGBT community. The “Rainbow” represents a community who’s lifestyle God declares as an abomination. And now anyone who wears the colors of the rainbow or in any way identifies with them may be suspected of being a member of that community.  That’s sad, so sad. I personally celebrate the “Rainbow” for at least three reasons: 1) I believe the “Rainbow” represents a world community that is multinational and multicultural. The earth is filled with people of different nationalities, cultures, languages, and ethnicities.

2) The Christian community is a diverse community. There are thousands of Christian traditions in the Church of Jesus Christ. Within the Christian family we have Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopalians and Protestants. Within the Protestants there are Baptists, Methodists, AME’s, Pentecostals, Independents, and non denominationals. You name it, we got it. The Christian family is a diverse family. We need not relinquish and surrender a God given symbol of protection and promise to the Devil. 3) I like the colors. God’s creation is wonderful, beautiful and majestic. The colors of the rainbow are awesome. It is high time that we reclaim the Rainbow. We’re not gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We are African American Christians with a proud legacy and heritage who are members of a multinational, multicultural world and a diverse Christian community. We are the true rainbow coalition, #reclaimtherainbow, #rtr.

The world that we once knew has changed. We’re living in what theologians and historians call the postmodern age. It is called the postmodern age because people today not only question but outright reject authority, all authority. The traditional insititutions that undergirded and solidified society such as marriage and family, the church, and the government have been redefined and sometimes outright rejected. Yet for the most part churches that serve in the urban communities are surrounded by abandoned houses, dysfunctional families, failing public schools, bankrupt city governments, double digit unemployment, drug addiction, crime and violence and a general feeling of hopelessness. In the modern age people accepted authority. They accepted the autthoriy of the government, science, technology and even the church. However today, many people believe and behave according to how they feel.

It is what an Episcopal priest – philosopher named Jospeh Fletcher called “Situation Ehtics”. Situation ethics is when we allow the situation to determine our behavior. For example according to this philosophy, in some situations lying, cheating, and stealing are justified. Again, in situation ethics, the situation defines for us what is right and wrong, good and evil. Today people have placed themselves in the place of God. They have become their own god. Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m certainly not suggesting that we as Christians follow with blind obedience and total allegiance anybody or any insititution. After all, we are not Lemmings (lol).

We have an informed faith. Our faith is informed by the clear and pristine teaching of the Word of God. The Bible is the foundation upon which our faith is built. It is our only source of divine truth. It is our guidepost and mainstay, not the government, the society, or the cultural norms. In matters of faith (what we believe), morality (standards of right and wrong), conscience (how we live), and doctrine (what we teach), it is “Sola Scriptura”, only the scripture. God is calling for Christian Disciples who are not ashamed of Jesus Christ nor the proclamation of his gospel in a day when the world is in a constant state of kaos and confusion. Jesus said in Mark 8:38, “Whosoever is ashamed of Me before this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will be ashamed of him in the glory of his Father in heaven.”

Let’s be bold soldiers for the Lord even in this unbelieving postmodern age. Living for the Lord is so exciting!

As pastor, I extend the welcome of our staff and community to all who enter our website.

May God’s peace be with you!

I hope that we are able to help you find what you need here. We have put a lot of information on our site, as well as links that may connect you to places where others may provide what we cannot. There’s even a contact link where you can ask a question if our website doesn’t give you what you need.

Of course, we also want to provide personal assistance in whatever way we can, if you need to talk to someone. To speak to a person, please call our parish phone at (410) 732-1338. During weekday hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., our parish staff can assist you. At other times just follow our directory and leave a message if the person you are seeking is not there.

Please join us for service. Our mission is to live and worship as a Christian people, calling forth the gifts of each one and ministering to the needs of others. If you are new, I hope you will let us know who you are and will share our life as fellow Christians. If you are already a member of our church, I want you to know that anytime is a good time to get to know more about, or perhaps even get more involved in, the many good things that are happening at the Saint Paul Community Baptist Church.

God’s blessings be yours, today and always!