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M argaret I saacs _________
There are many cultures that
formally bless their people in many
stages o f their lives. There are two
that readily come to mind; the Jewish
Blessings and the Blessings given
within the Black culture Beginning
with the children, the Jews and Blacks
have blessed in the name o f the one
God, Jehovah. The Birth blessing
covers the chi Id from birth unto death,
shielding him from harm and places
God solidly into the child’s training,
his healing, his growth, his vocation
and avocation, his prosperity, his
faithfulness and all other aspects o f
the child’s life. It is believed and yea,
it is promised o f God, that this bless­
ing will be honored throughout the
child’s life by God himself. In the
Black culture the naked child is lifted
to the heavens; and God is thanked
for the giving of the child and the
child is given back to God and blessed
in the name o f God, for a life cover­
ing under the mercy and guidance o f
God, the Father. Children o f righ­
teous parents receive blessings from
God. “But the mercy o f the Lord is
20, 1995
t
P age
e r
n
a
t i v
The Power Of Blessings
from everlasting to everlasting upon
them that fear Him, and his righ­
teousness unto children’s children.
PS. 103:17.
Every New Testament Book in
the Word o f God begins with a bless­
ing: “Grace unto you, and peace, be
multiplied.” Peter 1:1, 2,3.; “Grace,
Mercy and peace from God our Fa­
ther and Jesus Christ, our Lord”,
Timothy 1:1,2; “ Blessed with the
preparation ofThe Way”, Mark 1:1,2,
and etc.. There are nine blessings in
the Sermon on the Mount. The last
thing Jesus did before ascending unto
heaven was to bless his disciples.
The Bible says to “bless and curse
not’. The power o f blessings places a
cover over the blessed. The children
o f a Christian mother will bless her
through their actions and words. "Her
children arise us, and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praiseth
her” . Prov. 31:28. It is believed in the
Black race and the Jewish race that
God, who is our Father and we his
children, will pity us and have mercy
on us; “ Like a father pitieth his chil­
dren, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him.” PS 103:13. It is in the fear
o f the Lord that Blacks and Jews
have blessed their children at birth
and it is by the cover of this blessing
that these races have survived in spite
o f all that has come upon them
throughout the ages. It is believed,
sincerely that if we bless those who
curse, as the Word o f God admonish­
es, the curses spoken against us will
leave us untouched and will return to
its source and the source o f the curse
will enjoy the fruits o f that curse.
Thus blacks especially will never
yield to worldly pressures that at­
tempt to force non-correction o f our
children; for it is necessary for par­
ents to correct their children. “ For
whom the Lord loveth he correcteth;
even as a father the son in whom he
delighteth”. Prov. 3:12. “Withhold
not correction from the child; for if
thou beatest him with the rod, he
shall not die.” Prov 23:13. Some
parents have gone against the culture
o f their people and refrained from
the correction o f their children; thus,
we find children disrespecting par­
ents; children killing their brothers/
sisters; chi Idren beating their parents
and slaying their parents; children
disobeying the law; and becoming
vile in all things; for God judges our
house forever for the iniquity which
we see, when our chi Idren make them­
selves vile, and we restrained them
not. ISam. 3:13. We are admonished
to “Train up a child in the way he
should go; and when he is old, he will
not depart from it.” Prov 22:6.
Be careful upon whom you evoke
the blessings o f God! Blessings can­
not be recalled, once given. Jacob
and Esau, twins, are a recorded ex­
ample o f this. Jacob stole Esau’s
birth blessing by deceiving Isaac,
their father. Once spoken the bless­
ing could not be recalled and the
blessing came to pass for Jacob and
not for Esau.
G o d b le s s e d the G e n tile s
through Jesus Christ, his son
We received the right hand of
the blessing and Jesus received the
left hand o f the blessing o f God. We
received living water, and Jesus re­
ceived vinegar; We received heal­
ing, and Jesus received stripes; We
e
received forgiveness and Jesus re­
ceived separation from God; We re­
ceived life everlasting, Jesus suffered
death and went down into hell (the
grave). Jesus bore all that was in­
tended for us Gentiles (those not
included in the blessings o f Isreal),
and arose victorious as our Lord and
the savior o f our souls., all through
the blessings o f Jehovah God. We
now, through Jesus, enjoy the bless­
ings o f provisions; God provides for
our needs, not our greeds. God pro­
vides where he leads, not where we
chose to go. He provides a mind to
think and a behind to sit on. Think
with our minds, hear with our hearts
and enjoy the provisions o f God! Sit
and wait for G od’s blessings and we
gain nothing. Heads we win, tails we
lose. We enjoy the blessing of unity,
with Jesus as our source. Unity is not
seeing everything the same as others.
If you see everything the same as an­
other, one is not needed. We are to
restore those among us who falls; lift
them up and bless them. We enjoy the
blessing of peace. “ I will keep them in
perfect peace w hose mind is stayed on
B5
s
me, saith the Lord”. Live by the stan­
dards ofthe Sacred text, the Bible, and
ye shall have the peace o f God.
We, as a black race, surviving
through many trials and tribulations,
must continue in cultural mores; and
those who have strayed, taking on
other methods that are not o f God,
must return to the tried and true stan­
dards ofour ancestral heritage; bless­
ing our children and lifting up and
blessing those who have strayed; re­
membering the proven blessings o f
God from generations past unto the
present generation. “ When a m an’s
ways please the Lord, he maketh
even his enemies to be at peace with
him.” Proverbs 16:7. Obey the God
o four forefathers; for ifw e harken to
the voice o f the Lord, our God, and
will do that which is right in his sight,
and will given ear to his command­
ments and keep his statutes, God will
put none o f the diseases upon us,
which he has brought upon others;
for he is the Lord, that healeth us."
Exod 15:26. Everything Is Possible,
And Has Been Proven To Be So,
Through The Blessings O f God.
T h e ^ c r o o if e n W ho S t o l e C h r is tm a s :
W h a t D o e s I t M eu n T o B e A n A m e r i c a n ?
by
B e r n ic e P ow ell J ackson
I’ve w ritten a lot ab o u t the
so -c a lle d w elfare reform and the
im pact that th e R ep u b lican s’ bills
w ill have on p o o r women and
ch ild ren . I ’ve follow ed clo sely
the v a rio u s d ra fts o f the bills
w hich th re a te n e d to take aw ay
infant fo rm u la and food and in ­
com e from p o o r ch ild re n and
w hich th re a te n e d foster care and
ad o p tio n se rv ic e s for those c h il­
d ren a b a n d o n e d or ab u sed by
th e ir p aren ts. So I thought I had
seen it all, th a t I u n d ersto o d the
d ep th s to w hich this C ongress
co u ld sink as it seeks to take food
from the m ouths o f p o o r ch ildren
in o rd e r to finance a tax cut for
the rich and to give the P entagon
$7 b illio n th at they d id n ’t even
ask for.
But then I opened the N ew
Y o rk T im e s to fin d th a t the
H o u se-S en ate c o n fe re n ce c o m ­
m ittee had put in a little -n o tic e d
change w hich w ould end health
co v erag e for our n a tio n ’s poor.
Ju st as m any o f us took a little
sigh a fte r we had su c c e ssfu lly
g o tte n th e W om en and Infant
C h ild ren (W IC ) feed in g program
C^Gbmeqoinq Celebration
of Richard L. Branch
September 14, 1929 Jonesville, Louisiana
December 2, 1995
Portland, Oregon
Richard Lee Branch was
bom on September 14, 1929, in
Jonesville, Louisiana, toCharlie
and Rebecca Branch. Richard
was the youngest o f six chil­
dren.
He was married to Betty
Fisher, and from this union, a
son was bom. In about 1943,
Richard m oved to Portland
where he lived until the time o f
this death. Later, in his mar­
riage to Bernice Gibson, eight
children were bom. He worked
for and retired from the Soule
Steel Company, in 1973. He accepted Christ as his Savior and untied with
the Morningstar Baptist Church, where he served on the Usher Board.
Richard recently married his long time friend, Patricia Howard.
He leaves to mourn: his wife, Patricia Howard; Daughters, Dionne
and Sharon Branch o f Portland, OR; Sons, Byron, Marcus, Eric and
Rickie Branch, and Alex Spearman, all o f Portland, OR, Ronald Strong
o f Seattle, WA, and Richard Lee Fisher o f Albuquerque, NM; Sister,
Jessie Hodges o f Portland, OR; Step-children, Kayleen Williams o f
Warrenton, OR Ny la Johnson, Minister Jeffrey Howard, Romund Howard
and William Howard, all o f Portland, OR; twenty grandchildren, six
great-grandchildren and a host o f nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there you may be also. St. John 14:1-3
J|
FAITH TEMPLE CHURCH
4224 S.E. 62nd Avenue
(between Powell & Foster)
Portland, Oregon 97206
I
SUNDAY
Sunday School 9:30am
Morning Worship 10:45am
Evangelistic Service 7:30pm
Tuesday Pastoral Teaching 7:00pm
FRIDAY
Evangelistic Service 7:00pm
DAILY
Prayer 12:00pm & 6:00pm
(503) 774-5470
PASTORS: Bishop Robert Simpson, Jr • Dr Ida M Simpson
to co n tin u e a ssistin g p re g n a n t
w om en, infants and ch ild re n at
risk and seem ed to have gotten
school lunches back for poor c h il­
dren, then the g rinches th at stole
C h ristm as take aw ay health care
for po o r ch ild ren .
The new bill says that states
are not req u ired to p ro vide m ed­
ical care to any in d ividual re­
ceiving aid or assistan ce in the
form o f A id to Fam ilies W ith
D ependent C hildren, fo ster care
paym ents or adoption assistance.
T he C h ild r e n ’s D efense Fund
e stim ates that 4.6 m illion p a r­
ents and 1.6 m illion children over
12 w ould lose th e ir health b e n e ­
fits. In a d d itio n , state program s
w hich w ould extend health care
co verage to w orking poor fam i­
lies, like those in T en nessee and
O regon w hich are d esig n ed to
e n c o u ra g e fa m ilie s to get o f f
w elfare, w ould not be allow ed
under the new bill.
All o f this m eans poor c h il­
dren w ill be sicker next year. It
m eans th a t ch ild ren w ith special
needs or d isa b ilitie s w ho are in
fo ster c are or elig ib le for a d o p ­
tion w ill no longer be e lig ib le for
health c a re , and thus less likely
to be a d o p ted or placed w ith fo s­
ter paren ts who have the love but
not the m oney. It m eans poor
ch ild ren w ill be sick er w hile we
got tax cuts that m any o f us d o n ’t
w ant and none o f us need. It
m eans p o o r chi Idren will be sic k ­
er w hile the P entagon tries to
figure out how to spend d o lla rs it
did not request.
In a talk to the n a tio n ’s re li­
gious le a d e rs re c e n tly M arian
W right E delm an, p resid en t o f the
C h ild re n ’s D efense Fund, asked
the q u estio n , “ W hat does it mean
to be an A m erican?” She asked
that qu estio n in light o f the $250
billion in proposed bu d g et cuts
w hich w ill finance the $245 b il­
lion in tax cuts. She asked that
question in light o f pro p o sed cuts
in child w elfare services food and
n u tritio n program s, health and
incom e program s for our n a tio n ’s
poorest and m ost v u ln erable. She
asked th a t question w hile p o in t­
ing out how 26,000 fam ilies to ­
g ether earn ed less than one e n ­
tertain m en t ex ecutive in 1993.
“ B abies are sacred g ifts o f
loving G o d ,” said E delm an, “ but
we w ould deny them food, im ­
m u nization, health care and e d u ­
cation. T his is not reform , but a
trojan horse for R epublican ide­
o lo g y .” E delm an added th at R e­
p u b lic a n s have m ade “ e n title ­
m ent” a dirty w ord, w hen it re a l­
ly m eans a fundam ental m oral
p rin c ip le th a t o u r n a tio n had
ag re e d upon - that our federal
g o v ern m en t should be the p ro ­
te c to r o f last resort for the most
v u ln e ra b le o f our so ciety — poor
w om en and ch ildren - that when
hu sb an d s and fam ilies and states
fail them , po o r w om en and c h il­
dren can count on the rest o f us
for help.
W hat does it m ean to be an
A m erican? D oes it m ean that the
rich and the m iddle class care
only for th e ir own and the rest
m ust go for th em selv es? D oes it
■ w
8501 N. Chautauqua Blvd.,
at Willis Blvd.
Searching? So Are We.
COME AND SEE!
SUNDAY 6 P.M.
Worship Services 8:00am & 11:00am,
.Church School 9:30 to 10:30am,
Bible Study, Wednesdays, 10:30am & 7:00pm
Radio Ministry each Sunday, 8:00am on KBMS
St. Stephen’s - Corner S. W. 13th & Clay - Portland, OR
A insworth D rug
A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry
Dr. James E. Martin, Senior Pastor
(503) 240-PRAY
Cox Funeral Home Inc.
3002 NE Ainsworth 282 0787
(503)281-4891
See us for all your
Prescription Needs
A. A. COX, SR.
Mortician & Funeral Director
CHARLENE COX TANNER
Manager
$3.00 off
Your next new or transferred
prescription.
JEROM E G. TANNER
A. Funeral Director
For insurance co-payment, lesser of; copay or $3.00
R / U nited
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Mt Olivet
Baptist Church
J ourney ¿ s x
One prescription per coupon
Coupon expires 1 2 /3 1 /9 5
m ean poor ch ild re n w ill be s ic k ­
er and h u ngrier w hile the re st o f
us p ro sp e r? D oes it m ean th at
those who are d isab led and a b a n ­
d o n ed w ill have no ch an ce o f
liv in g in a fam ily? D oes it m ean
th at we as a n ation have lost our
so u l?
( I f you care, w rite P resid en t
C lin to n , the W hite H ouse, 1600
P en n sylvania A venue, W ash in g ­
ton, DC 20500 o r call (2 0 2 ) 456-
1414 and ask him to stand stro n g
and veto any bill w hich denies
health care to p o o r c h ild re n .)
I
I
Jerome G. Tanner
A. Funeral Director
The Loss o f a loved one
is always a traumatic
experience. But it can he
made easier i f you contact
a facility that has you r
interest at heart.
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