Pass-The_ Ball...: 2016

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

ABOUT TIME-by Rev.M.D.Rogers

Psalm 90:10, 12, 14

There is at least one thing you and I have in common. God has given us each the same amount of time each day! We each have 24 hours. Each hour has 60 minutes. Each minute has 60 seconds.

One of the hardest things we need to do each day is to use God's gift of time wisely! Moses makes some interesting observations in Vss. 10, 12 and 14 of Psalm 90. He speaks about time.

RECOGNIZING THE TIME - Vs. 10
According to the Bible, the average life span is 70 years. Sometimes, especially in America today, a person may even receive a few more years. Nevertheless, no matter how long we live it is not long at all, and our time will be up.

REDEEMING THE TIME - Vs. 12
Moses recognized the need for proper use of time. Our time should be spent acknowledging the brevity of time and the need to use our time wisely. The most important thing we can do with our time is please God. See Ephesians 5:15-17.

REJOICING THROUGH TIME - Vs. 14
The sooner we find the mercy of God in Christ, and are satisfied with that mercy all our days, the happier we will be! The word mercy here refers to God's love! Let us always remember that nothing can separate us from that love! Romans 8:35-39.

Monday, December 26, 2016

Christmas 2016

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Denzel Washington ‘Fences’ | Black America Web

Friday, December 23, 2016

'A good thing' | Central MO Breaking News

From The Executive Director

During times of adversity and hardship, when the grey, thick clouds of political strife and international crises loom over us, it is natural to want to draw the curtains closed and barricade ourselves from the ugliness outside our doors. When we wonder if we will have enough money to keep a roof over our heads and food on our tables, it might be difficult to imagine that we can offer anything of value to God. Yet, it is in these seasons of spiritual winter; in these times of vulnerability and uncertainty that we offer to God the gifts he desires most.
Although our hands may be empty of resources, if our hearts are full of praise and thankfulness to Him and love expressed in generosity to His people, He is blessed beyond measure. As he found much pleasure in the poor widow's offering of a few pennies at the temple, so he finds much pleasure in our sacrificial giving of ourselves during times of hardship.
No matter what season you are experiencing in your life, as you present your heart to the Lord, may you feel the warmth of His light shine upon you and through you. May that light be a beacon to those in the darkness and may you truly be a messenger of God's greatest gift to the world, His son, Jesus Christ.
God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith; the warmth of Christmas, which is love; the radiance of Christmas, which is purity; the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice; the belief in Christmas, which is truth; the all of Christmas, which is Christ.

From all of us at Pass-The_Ball
Rev. M.D. Rogers-Executive Director

Christmas Prayer:

Father, We thank Thee for this day.
Bless all we do and all we say.
May we each enjoy Thy blessings
As we Celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ
And may the love that we share here
Remain throughout the coming year.
Amen!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Why children believe (or not) that Santa Claus exists | Don't Miss This | newburyportnews.com

Sunday, December 18, 2016

The Gospel Message In “It’s a Wonderful Life” | BCNN1 – Black Christian News Network

Saturday, December 17, 2016

We all need a little Christmas | News & Observer

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Black sailor's Pearl Harbor heroics helped end racism in military - NY Daily News

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Career Tips for Teens: How Teenagers to Find a Mentor

Monday, November 28, 2016

Just Because You're My Father Doesn't Mean You're My Parent

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Word of Life - 1John

by Rev.M.D.Rogers

The Word of Life

Who is Jesus of Nazareth? This is the fundamental question which the Gospel of John poses for us. John develops his gospel to answer that question using compelling evidence and eye-witness testimony.

John, the youngest of the twelve apostles, wrote his gospel late in life, around 100 AD, in the city of Ephesus, a Greek-speaking center of commerce and culture. By that time the vast majority of Christians were no longer converts from Jewish communities, but people who lived in a world dominated by the culture, thought, and worldview of Greece and Rome. John appealed to their powers of reason and reflection to consider who Jesus claimed to be.

John was in Ephesus when he wrote this letter. He sent it to the churches in that region. He wrote to the Christians in those churches. He knew them well and he loved them. He thought of them as his own family. So he spoke to them as if he was speaking to his own children.

The reasons why John wrote this letter

Some people in these churches believed wrong things. The people who had taught them these wrong things had been members of the church. However, they had moved away from the *faith and they had left the church (1 John 2:19). So John intended to correct these wrong ideas in his letter.

One wrong idea was that Christ was not really a man. He seemed to be a man but was not a real man. John taught quite clearly that the Son of God came as a real man. He lived his life here on earth as a man. The Christ actually died as a man. The man, Christ Jesus, rose again from the dead.

Some people taught that Jesus was merely a man. They taught that he was not really God. They did not believe that God could die. They said that the *Christ came upon Jesus. Then the *Christ left him again before he died. John answered this. He showed that Jesus is one with God. He is the *Christ, who gave his life for us. No mere man could take away our *sins as the *Lord Jesus Christ has done.

These people taught other wrong things. This is what they argued:

·The body is bad, but the spirit is good. True life is in the spirit. What we do in the body does not affect the spirit. So it does not matter how we live in the body.

These people thought that their evil actions did not matter. They said that they loved God. However, they lived for themselves. John shows that such ideas are false. If we love God, our lives must be good. We must not continue to *sin. We must live as Jesus lived. We must live right and good lives because God is good.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Psalm 95

"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."
Psalm 95:1-6

Thanksgiving 2016

Leave Thanksgiving alone, please. We all need a chance to savor the food at leisure, cuddle with the kids, make conversation with the in-laws, throw around the football, and generally breathe in deeply the sensation of true gratitude to God...

Friday, November 18, 2016

Dads and Daughters: Coaching for Men with a Loved One Fighting Eating Disorders

Sandpiper's Thoughts: Logos: Words this week

Why Black Studies matters in an age of liberal arts angst | The Huffington Post

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

November

November--

They say it is the month of death,
But I have never seen such beauty in decay.

Remains of Autumn,
Still smoldering,
Cling to the branches,
And the earth is painted a thousand shades of red.

When a heavy fog smothers the ground,
Breathe in and let it fill your lungs.

It is at this time the world seems still
And the fear of winter is forgotten,

If only for a moment,

Before the light fades,
And we return to darkness once more.

Stepping out on faith can offer peace of mind

Monday, November 14, 2016

Pass-The_ Ball...: The first Thanksgiving Day

Pass-The_ Ball...: What Are You Thankful For?-Rev.M.D.Rogers

Pass-The_ Ball...: A Crisis of Faith -Rev.M.D. Rogers

Monday, November 7, 2016

How to Plan a Guys Getaway With Your Sons - Mocha Dad

Thursday, October 27, 2016

The Fight for Free Speech on College Campuses - Reason.com

Monday, October 24, 2016

Generation to Generation by Rev.MD Rogers

I believe it is important for us to get a long-term vision of our divine calling of parenthood. It is often hard to feel that you are accomplishing very much staying at home - changing 'nappies' or 'diapers', wiping noses, cooking meals and daily training little children. It is important to see beyond the frustrations of your every day tasks and look ahead. You are not only training children for today, but for the future. Your influence is powerful and far-reaching. As you diligently teach God's ways to your children, you are establishing principles and guidelines for future generations.

God's ultimate plan is for godly generations. He has commanded each generation to pass on His ways and His laws to the next generation. Psalm 145:4 says, "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."

God does not want us to think of parenting this generation only. He wants us to live our lives in the light of past and future generations. When God spoke to His people, the children of Israel, He reminded them of their roots and their past heritage. He said, "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." But as He reminded them of their roots in revealing His name, He also gave them a vision of the future! He continually stated, "It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."

God's words are for all generations. They are never out of date. Psalm 105:8 says, "He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations."

Monday, October 3, 2016

The Harvest Moon

"The harvest moon hangs round and high
It dodges clouds high in the sky,
The stars wink down their love and mirth
The Autumn season is giving birth.
Oh, it must be October.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

RESPECT-Rev. M.D. Rogers

Respect has great importance in everyday life. As children we are taught (one hopes) to respect our parents, teachers, and elders, school rules and traffic laws, family and cultural traditions, other people's feelings and rights, our country's flag and leaders, the truth and people's differing opinions. And we come to value respect for such things; when we're older, we may shake our heads (or fists) at people who seem not to have learned to respect them. We develop great respect for people we consider exemplary and lose respect for those we discover to be clay-footed, and so we may try to respect only those who are truly worthy of our respect. We may also come to believe that, at some level, all people are worthy of respect. We may learn that jobs and relationships become unbearable if we receive no respect in them; in certain social milieus we may learn the price of disrespect if we violate the street law: “Diss me, and you die.” Calls to respect this or that are increasingly part of public life: environmentalists exhort us to respect nature, foes of abortion and capital punishment insist on respect for human life, members of racial and ethnic minorities and those discriminated against because of their gender, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, or economic status demand respect both as social and moral equals and for their cultural differences. And it is widely acknowledged that public debates about such demands should take place under terms of mutual respect. We may learn both that our lives together go better when we respect the things that deserve to be respected and that we should respect some things independently of considerations of how our lives would go.

We may also learn that how our lives go depends every bit as much on whether we respect ourselves. The value of self-respect may be something we can take for granted, or we may discover how very important it is when our self-respect is threatened, or we lose it and have to work to regain it, or we have to struggle to develop or maintain it in a hostile environment. Some people find that finally being able to respect themselves is what matters most about getting off welfare, kicking a disgusting habit, or defending something they value; others, sadly, discover that life is no longer worth living if self-respect is irretrievably lost. It is part of everyday wisdom that respect and self-respect are deeply connected, that it is difficult if not impossible both to respect others if we don't respect ourselves and to respect ourselves if others don't respect us. It is increasingly part of political wisdom both that unjust social institutions can devastatingly damage self-respect and that robust and resilient self-respect can be a potent force in struggles against injustice.

The ubiquity and significance of respect and self-respect in everyday life largely explains why philosophers, particularly in moral and political philosophy, have been interested in these two concepts. They turn up in a multiplicity of philosophical contexts, including discussions of justice and equality, injustice and oppression, autonomy and agency, moral and political rights and duties, moral motivation and moral development, cultural diversity and toleration, punishment and political violence. The concepts are also invoked in bioethics, environmental ethics, business ethics, workplace ethics, and a host of other applied ethics contexts. Although a wide variety of things are said to deserve respect, contemporary philosophical interest in respect has overwhelmingly been focused on respect for persons, the idea that all persons should be treated with respect simply because they are persons. Respect for persons is a central concept in many ethical theories; some theories treat it as the very essence of morality and the foundation of all other moral duties and obligations. This focus owes much to the 18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, who argued that all and only persons (i.e., rational autonomous agents) and the moral law they autonomously legislate are appropriate objects of the morally most significant attitude of respect. Although honor, esteem, and prudential regard played important roles in moral and political theories before him, Kant was the first major Western philosopher to put respect for persons, including oneself as a person, at the very center of moral theory, and his insistence that persons are ends in themselves with an absolute dignity who must always be respected has become a core ideal of modern humanism and political liberalism. In recent years many people have argued that moral respect ought also to be extended to things other than persons, such as nonhuman living things and the natural environment.

Despite the widespread acknowledgment of the importance of respect and self-respect in moral and political life and theory, there is no settled agreement in either everyday thinking or philosophical discussion about such issues as how to understand the concepts, what the appropriate objects of respect are, what is involved in respecting various objects, what the conditions are for self-respect, and what the scope is of any moral requirements regarding respect and self-respect. This entry will survey these and related issues.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Graduation rates climb to an all-time high at D.C. Public Schools - The Washington Post

Little Known Black History Fact: Xavier University | Black America Web

Little Known
Black History Fact: Xavier University | Black America Web

Almost Cool Dad: Black Girls Don’t Need Magic | Black America Web

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Change

Happy Autumn! The change in season has left me thinking a lot about change lately. About how sometimes we can seek change and it eludes us. About how sometimes change is thrust upon us with little notice. And about how sometimes change happens right on schedule and how enjoyable it can be.

talkcontract | The Opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Friday, September 23, 2016

2 Durham charter school proposals among 38 in N.C.; schools would open in 2018 | Schools & More | heraldsun.com

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Dr Boyce Watkins

https://www.facebook.com/186625219983/videos/10150714578289984/

Steve Harvey Shares Sobering Instructions For Interacting With Cops | Huffington Post

The promise of higher education and charter schools | MLive.com

State unfairly alters rules, speeds up clock on underperforming schools | MLive.com

On Faith-Rev. M.D.Rogers

The agonizing moments through which I have passed during the last few years have drawn me closer to God. I am convinced of the reality of a personal God. True, I have always believed in the personality of God. But in the past the idea of a personal God was little more than a metaphysical category that I found theologically and philosophically satisfying. Now it is a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life. God has been profoundly real for me in recent years. In the midst of lonely days and dreary nights I have heard an inner voice saying, "Lo, I will be with you even unto the end of the world.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Medgar Evers College helps close racial gap in swimming

Medgar Evers College helps close racial gap in swimming: This year, Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y., is proud to announce a new addition to the college, a 25-yard and five-lane pool

Sunday, September 11, 2016

By His Spirit -Rev.M.D. Rogers

Your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers — they need more than our words. They need to see the powerful moving of God’s Holy Spirit. Numbers 11:24-25 24. So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25. Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the SPIRIT that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they PROPHESIED,… •• Picture it — moved by the Holy Spirit, all 70 elders began to prophesy. • Kind of a mini-Day of Pentecost! •• Those who don’t know the Lord need to see whole churches of those who do know the Lord moving.

What does the church supremely need to remember? The truth embodied in this text. "Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord." God's work is not done by our resources, of intellect, of wealth, of enthusiasm, nor by resoluteness of effort or by cleverness. Though all these are necessary, none of them, not all of them together, nor any human endeavoring can do God's eternal work.
As Jesus was born of the Spirit, baptized of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and proclaimed the Kingdom of God in the power of the Spirit, as He offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit to God, so should we!
For the Spirit of God calls, gifts, equips and works through the people of God. God's Spirit is paramount, if God's people are to do God's eternal work.
These words, not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord brought the needed empowering to the feeble handful of discouraged people surrounded by the enemy. And we too should feel the sweetness of the promise that told them not to despair nor to be despondent because they had little of what the world calls might and power. We here today need to hear this messageand have faith in God's resource which is available to us through His established channels outlined in His Word.