By Kassidy Henson | California Black Media

Grammy Award-winning Christian Hip-Hop hop artist Lecrae is on a mission to increase financial literacy among African Americans.

Growing up in a “marginalized” community in San Diego, Lecrae says he was exposed to incredible wealth and opportunity when he visited communities along the Pacific coastline or neighborhoods nestled in the hills overlooking the city.

But life was different in his predominantly Black neighborhood. Less possibility. Much more poverty.

“You begin to wonder ‘how do I acquire that?’ How do you change the narrative?” Lecrae told California Black Media.

“Returning to a community that faced marginalization, brutality and the effects of poverty was a reflection — excluded from the gleaming SoCal Hills.”

Recalling those childhood experiences, Lecrae — who now lives in Atlanta — said he decided to launch an effort to create opportunities for African Americans that would help to close the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites.

Using his own production company, 3 Strands Films, Lecrae developed a short-form financial education show called Protect the Bag.

The six-part web series provides viewers with a “blueprint” for financial wellness by delving into topics like saving, retirement, investment, budgeting, and identity protection, according to the rapper who released a new album with fellow artist 1K Phew titled “No Church in a While” on Dec. 3

Lecrae, who won a Grammy for Best Gospel Album in 2012, says he hopes the show helps to restore stability and hope in a new generation of young Black people.

The concept for Protect the Bag was developed during the COVID-19 lockdown last year. During that time, Lacrae says he partnered with the credit scoring company Experian to come to the aid of 21 families facing foreclosure due to financial hardship.

A series of short roundtable conversations comprises the Protect the Bag. During each one, Lecrae explains the basics of building a financial legacy. In discussions with financial professionals, community members and guests like Denver Nuggets forward Michal Porter Jr, the panelists address obstacles to building wealth that large numbers of African Americans face.

By the end of each episode, Lecrae says his goal is to equip viewers with the knowledge, exposure and confidence to create better financial habits.

Before knowing that his passion for financial education would grow into what he calls a “new-age Teen Summit” (referring to the early 1990s BET weekly show that dealt with issues facing young African Americans), Lecrae says he was working to expose those around him to the benefits of good money habits.

A self-described “doer,” Lecrae explained that at his label he met with artists and hosted financial literacy classes exploring buying power, disparities in the stock market, and the value of the Black dollar.

“Those are all important pillars of good financial stewardship,” says the artist who joined other lecturers to teach a six week “pop-out course” at Stanford University.

“One of the struggles that we had in academia is that academics often speak through a backwards megaphone. They speak through the wide end. To them, the information is easy to grasp when it comes out the smaller side,” he says. “How do we turn that megaphone around? How do we take these narrow concepts and make them more broad and applicable for everybody listening? How do we speak the language of the community and allow it to be less complicated than everyone makes it sound?”

Lecrae also talked about the many benefits that can be reaped when African Americans decide to invest in their communities.

“It creates a network. Like that old game, Barrel of Monkeys: when someone reaches down to give you a hand the next step is to reach your hand down to help the next person up,” he says. “This practice puts funds and resources back into the community, which is an essential part of a financially stable economy.”

Lecrae said young people should ditch the mindset that you only live once.

“You can really lose a movement over a moment. I think we chase pleasure over happiness. Think about what you want long-term because your decisions today can work to ensure that your 60-year-old self is living in a way that is liberated and free.”

New episodes of Protect the Bag are released each week on Lecrae’s YouTube channel.

RIALTO, CA—- California’s Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Natalie Palugyai as Secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) in July 2021, making her the first Latina to ever serve in this post. Last Thursday, Secretary Pulagyai visited the Inland Empire with the California Workforce Development Agency leadership in tow to learn more about High Road Training Partnership grant recipient, IEWorks, a regional water/wastewater workforce collaborative delivering equitable water/wastewater career pathways.

 “I really want to recognize the hard work and partnerships that have come together to make this training program happen,” stated Secretary Palugyai in her opening remarks. “Let’s use these opportunities to break down barriers and do things differently and be ok with testing those new approaches.”

Secretary Pulagyi visited West Valley Water District to explore their operations at the Olivier P. Roemer Water Filtration Facility and to meet participants from IEWorks. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, roughly one-third of the water sector will be eligible to retire in the next ten years. In the Inland Empire, experts project a total of about 835 openings in critical water industry occupations due to workers retiring or transferring to new careers.

“We were thankful to host Secretary Pulagyai and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency to share our progress within the region on building equitable pathways to water/wastewater careers,” shared IEWorks cofounder and West Valley Water District President Channing Hawkins. “Our goal with IEWorks is to create a unique model that involves collaboration amongst water/wastewater agencies, underrepresented communities, and harnessing our collective resources to ensure we create meaningful opportunities for Inland Empire families.”

IEWorks was created from an unprecedented partnership between seven local water agencies, works to address this expected shortage of skilled workers by creating a qualified pipeline of aspiring local water and wastewater professionals. IEWorks also partners with Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) and BAYWORK, a consortium of Bay Area water and wastewater utilities, to leverage their successes and best practices. Through a $1 million state grant, the High Road Training Partnership assists IEWorks in recruiting and training 100 jobseekers in underrepresented areas of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Today, 12 interns have participated in the program, with one being hired after their internship. Funding is utilized to provide wraparound services and alleviate burdens associated with job training and attending school, such as transportation vouchers, childcare, and providing livable wages to participants.

“The need to modernize and enhance our operations and infrastructure is fueled by the impact of the climate crisis,” stated IEWorks cofounder and Western Municipal Water District Vice President Gracie Torres. “With forthcoming retirements, droughts, and a need to meet our region’s water needs, we must address the upcoming gap by creating a qualified and prepared workforce that will be able to staff these facilities and lead us into the future of water/wastewater.”

Pictured (from left to right): 1 California Labor Secretary Natalie Palugyai is pictured with IEWorks cofounders, West Valley Water District President Channing Hawkins, and Western Municipal Water District Vice President Gracie Torres.

Representatives from San Bernardino Community College District, local water and utility districts, California Workforce Development Board President Dr. Angelo Farooq, and California State Senator Connie Leyva were amongst the guests in attendance and participated in a tour that highlighted the process which treats surface water from Lytle Creek and the State Water Project delivered through Lake Silverwood. The Olivier P. Roemer facility is scheduled to expand through a $25 million investment to increase capacity by 7.2 million gallons per day (MGD) to meet regional water demands, address water supply reliability, and support regional groundwater sustainability management efforts.

For participants interested and agencies looking to join, visit IEWorks.org to learn more or contact program manager Scott Goodell at scott@ieworks.org.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- At its December 15 Council meeting, City Manager Robert Field introduced two recently hired members of the city leadership team – Human Resources Director Rene Anderson and Director of Information Technology Rolland Kornblau.

“Both Rene and Rolland bring a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge to San Bernardino,” said City Manager Robert Field. “We are very pleased to have them both as part of the team serving our residents.”

In the role of Director of Human Resources, Rene Anderson oversees the recruitment, employment, classification, compensation, employee relations, training and development, performance evaluation, benefits, and workers’ compensation for San Bernardino.

When asked about her decision to come to San Bernadino, Anderson replied, “I am thrilled about the opportunity to connect with the resilient employees here at the city. It’s exciting to be a part of the revitalizing of the community while rebuilding its workforce.”

Anderson joins the city after spending 19 years at the City of Los Angeles and fifteen years in the private sector. While at L.A., she worked for the Public Works, the Port of Los Angeles, Department of Water and Power, and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). As the Employee Relations Manager for LAWA, she handled a workforce of over 3,500 sworn and civilian employees. Anderson holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Phoenix and bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from California State Dominguez Hills

As Director of Information Technology, Rolland. Kornblau is responsible for leading the City’s technology strategy and managing overall IT operations, including customer service.

For the past five years, Kornblau was the Director of Technology at the El Rancho Unified School District in Pico Rivera, where he was directly responsible for seventeen locations including fifteen school sites. Under his direction, the district replaced all network hardware, replaced wireless hardware and software, installed a voice over internet protocol phone system, and transitioned many applications to the cloud for security and redundancy.

Kornblau has 23 years of Technology experience working in all levels of Information Technology. Prior to his role at El Rancho, he served in several roles, including Director of Technology for the Whittier City School District. He holds a BA degree in Information Systems from American Sentinel University and a MPA from California State, Northridge.

INLAND EMPIRE, CA—- On December 20, 2021 the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC) adopted the final maps for California’s Congressional, State Assembly, State Senate, and Board of Equalization boundaries for the next ten years. IE United facilitated community-based organizations through the Inland Empire Redistricting Hub to ensure the needs of low-income communities of color and working families in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties were uplifted and considered throughout the 2021 redistricting process. “Though the maps are not perfect, we feel there is a lot of good accomplished with our new state and congressional districts. Communities of color across the region are kept together in key districts from San Bernardino and Rialto to Jurupa Valley and Riverside, to Moreno Valley and Perris,” said Sky Allen, program director for IE United.

The Inland Empire Redistricting Hub submitted over 100 communities of interest, delivered dozens of public comments, and submitted 5 region-wide draft maps since June of 2021. Participating partners facilitated numerous community education meetings and led a grassroots effort to ensure that the political boundaries used to elect public servants were truly reflective of communities in the region.

Sky Allen, who facilitated the Inland Empire Redistricting Hub on behalf of IE United, responded to the final state and congressional maps adopted by saying, “Though we are disappointed to see the High Desert Split at the Senate level and the Coachella Valley split at every level, overall, we are proud of all that our community partners were able to accomplish through their advocacy this past year. It has not been easy and of course we could not get every district to look the way we wanted them to, but there is not a doubt in my mind that we influenced the process and the districts for the better!”

Inland Empire United (IE United) is a collective impact table of community leaders and agents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. IE United brings movements together around a progressive vision for the region and advocates for transformational change within the counties. IE United coordinated the efforts of the Inland Empire Redistricting Hub with external partners through the Integrative Vote Engagement (IVE) Redistricting Alliance.

To learn more about IE United and Program Director Sky Allen visit www.ieunited.org

By Aldon Thomas Stiles | California Black Media

The Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. Van Hook, pastor of Community Church in Oakland, says when COVID-19 vaccinations were first released late last year he did not want to get the shot.

“As African Americans, we have a healthy distrust of the government based on our history,” said Van Hook.

But after some soul searching, there was a shift in his spirit, says Van Hook. It led to a change of his heart.

“It came to me through God’s visitation of the holy spirit that not only do I need to get vaccinated, but I need to become an ambassador in the community where we live work and worship. So that’s how my journey began.”

A little over a year ago, Van Hook joined hands with 38 other Black pastors from around California and formed the African American Community Empowerment Council (AACEC). With help from the state, members began setting up testing and vaccination sites at their churches.

“It is an initiative led by African American pastors, realizing that we need to pay special attention to our community – an affirmative action plan, if you please — for Black Californians who are understandably skeptical and don’t want to get vaccinated,” Van Hook said.

“Our healing, our hope, come through vaccination,” he continued. “That is how we will push past this pandemic in a healthy way to get to our new normal.

Now, ahead of the holidays Van Hook and other pastors are encouraging Black Californians to get vaccinated and tested before traveling and getting together with relatives.

“A majority of the cases and deaths are among those who are unvaccinated,” said Van Hook. “For those of us who have been waiting to see what was in it, what it was all about, we now have over a year of vaccinations and nobody’s eyes have fallen out. No bug has been placed in us where we can be tracked. There are so many stories we have heard in social media.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that Black people in the United States are being hospitalized for COVID-19 2.6 times more than Whites. According to the agency’s website, Black people are also dying of COVID-19 at nearly twice the rate of White mortalities.

During the thick of the pandemic, the AACEC website says the pastors “stepped up” responding to a call to action by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who asked all Californians to deploy every resource available to them to confront and defeat the deadly virus.

“Through this effort, testing of at-risk, underrepresented, and under-resourced African Americans, and all community members appearing for a test, will be phased across the state beginning in Alameda County and extending in regular intervals to encompass San Francisco, Sacramento, Solano, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Gabriel, and San Diego counties,” the AACEC website reads.

There are now also testing sites in San Bernardino County. Vaccination sites are located in Oakland, Pasadena, Sacramento and San Francisco.

Across the country, another organization called Choose Healthy Life (CHL) has similarly united Black religious leaders to battle COVID-19, opting to focus on tackling misinformation and increasing vaccination rates.

Black clergy members and civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, are leading the charge for this program.

“Covid-19 has exposed health disparities, and more disturbingly, the impact of misinformation among our own people.  But I have looked beyond the horizon of today’s headlines. After 750,000 deaths in America and more than 5 million worldwide, the pendulum is beginning to swing —and Choose Healthy Life is at the vanguard of that change,” Sharpton said.

CHL spokesperson Judy Klym detailed the program’s scope.

“After launching CHL in 50 churches in five major cities in January 2021, the program’s expansion has led to more than 50,000 members of the public being educated and empowered,” she said. “Through this collaborative effort, more than 6 million people have been impacted. Choose Healthy Life now has 120 participating churches in 13 states.”

Klym cited the new omicron variant as part of the reason for the urgency of this program’s implementation.

“As the threat from COVID continues with the emergence of the Omicron variant, the ongoing nature of the pandemic seems inevitable. CHL is rising to meet the challenge by building a sustainable infrastructure to help Black communities throughout the pandemic and future health crises,” Klym stated.

Debra Fraser-Howze, founder of CHL, says the Black church’s involvement in the COVID-19 fight is critical.

 “The Black church and clergy have been a steadfast center of strength and leadership during so many of our crises and struggles in the past. Now, through the Choose Healthy Life Action Plan, they are once again leading the way by ensuring that Black communities are better informed and safer throughout the pandemic,” she said.

Van Hook says when vaccination began at his church earlier this year on Resurrection Sunday, he drew a parallel.

“Vaccinations equal resurrection. Both of them give life as opposed to the death that this invisible, deadly virus has ministered all over the world,” he said.

MORENO VALLEY, CA— Riverside County Board of Education Member and nonprofit leader is launching his campaign for the newly formed 60th Assembly district. The new 60th Assembly District includes the cities of Moreno Valley, Perris, Hemet, and San Jacinto and the unincorporated areas of Mead Valley, Good Hope, Nuevo, and East Hemet.

“I am running to make sure that we have a true fighter representing our district to ensure that we have the resources that we need and deserve. Our communities have been neglected for far too long,” said Corey Jackson.

Corey A. Jackson, MSW was elected to the Riverside County Board of Education in 2020 and represents portions of the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, and the unincorporated community of Mead Valley. Corey Jackson is a local nonprofit and civil rights leader who is one of the leading social justice advocates in the region. He currently serves as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of SBX Youth and Family Services whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty and violence through mentoring, education, and community organizing. Mr. Jackson continues to serve his community as the Political Action Chair of the Riverside NAACP and serves as Youth Minister at the Moreno Valley Church of Christ.

As a leader in the California Democratic Party, Corey serves as the Chair of the California Democratic Party Black Caucus which is the largest caucus in the party. He also serves as a state executive committee member and an elected member of the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee.

The Rev. Amos C. Brown is vice-chair and the senior member serving on the nine-member California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.

Brown, 80, says he is “extremely pleased” with what the committee has accomplished after four meetings.

The task force held its fifth and final two-day meeting session of 2021 on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and Wednesday, Dec. 8. As written in Assembly Bill (AB) 3121, the group has until 2023 to present a set of recommendations to the state for consideration.

“The task force has been extremely focused and substantive. We have some of the best minds – people who know the history, psychology, and sociology of the pressure Black folks in this country have felt,” Brown told California Black Media.

The task force was created after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 3121 into law in September 2020. California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber authored the bill while she served in the State Assembly representing the 79th District in San Diego.

The law calls for the state to set up a task force to study slavery, Jim Crow segregation and other injustices African Americans have faced historically in California and across the United States.

The group will then recommend appropriate ways to educate the Californians about reparations and propose ways to compensate descendants of enslaved people based on the task force’s findings.

The members of the task force come from diverse professional backgrounds. So far, the panel has heard testimony from a range of experts and witnesses, including descendants and representatives of people or families the government denied justice in the past, as well as historians, economists and academics.

“We’re about balance, inclusion, and stating the case precisely so that it doesn’t face paralysis of analysis or become just another study,” Brown said. “We have had too many studies of Black folks in the past. Now is the time to show us that we are serious about being one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

According to Brown, African Americans in his hometown of San Francisco, need to overcome decades of psychological damage imposed by racism, discrimination and unfair government policies, including some urban renewal programs that hurt Black families more than they helped.

On Nov. 22, Brown joined, actor Danny Glover, other local Black leaders, and members of the San Francisco Reparations Committee, to ask the city to donate the historic Fillmore Heritage Center to the African American community.

Many have referred to the Fillmore neighborhood as the “Harlem of the West” in the 1940s, Brown said. By 1945, over 30,000 Black Americans lived in the historic area.

Today, around 6% of San Francisco’s population of nearly 875,000 people are Black or mixed-race African Americans.

“San Francisco City leaders have a moral obligation to right the racist wrongs that destroyed that culture and that community and allow the Fillmore Heritage Center to live up to the full meaning of its name,” Glover said in a statement.

In 2007, the center became a venue for Jazz and Blues, reminiscent of the culture and Fillmore night clubs that attracted musical greats Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, and others.

Last May, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to appoint a 15-member African American Reparations Advisory Committee.

“That building, that land, represents the disenfranchisement, redlining of Black folks in this town, and the redevelopment agency not being fair,” Brown said. “The Fillmore, 12 blocks, itself was the hub of Black entertainment, Black culture, Black businesses and Black life. You just can’t wipe out our history or our heritage.”

Born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1941, Brown says he was delivering JET magazine when the popular weekly published graphic photos of 14-year-old Emmett Till murdered by a White racist mob in August1955 in Money, Mississippi, a rural area known for the cultivation of cotton. The lynching of Till ignited the civil rights movement.

“Emmett and I were the same age,” Brown said. “When I picked up a copy (of Jet magazine), I saw that mutilated head. It horrified me. I remember it vividly.”

Brown first arrived in the city of San Francisco in 1956 with Medgar Evers, who was a state official of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in Mississippi.

Evers brought the 15-year-old Brown to the Bay Area to attend the NAACP’s national convention where he first met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A year before, Brown had started the NAACP’s first youth council.

Brown later studied under King at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

In 1961, he was arrested with King at a lunch counter sit-in and joined the Freedom Riders, a group of activists who protested segregation in the South.

“In 1960, before I joined the Freedom Riders, the NAACP Youth Council actually organized the first ‘sit-down protest’ in Oklahoma City in August 1958,” Brown said “The first sit-down movement did not start in Greensboro, North Carolina. It began in Oklahoma City, Wichita (Kansas), and Louisville (Kentucky) under the auspices of the Youth Council of the NAACP.”

Brown earned a Doctor of Theology from United Theological Seminary in Ohio and a Master of Theology from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.

Brown has been the Pastor of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco since 1976. From 1996 to 2001, he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He is president of the San Francisco Branch of the NAACP and a member of the organization’s national board of directors.

Brown said he is monitoring reparation legislation and conversations across the country to see if proposals being put forward are in sync with California’s efforts.

“What I want to accomplish is: Black people being and knowing that something was done about their pain — that can be done in the state of California,” Brown said. “Things can never be perfect, but at least collectively people of conscious and good will can stand up and say, ‘this is what we must do to right this wrong.’”

By Antonio? ?Ray? ?Harvey? ?|? ?California? ?Black? ?Media?

Lillian Lewis earned multiple degrees from California State University Sacramento (also known as Sac State University).

Lewis said, before the pandemic began, paying down the high student loan debt she accrued to cover her tuition and living expenses while in school put a strain on her monthly budget. Those arrears (“in the thousands”) with growing interest made it difficult for her to make ends meet.

But last month, Lewis and about 30,000 other American student loan borrowers across the United States received some unanticipated good news. The Biden administration announced a $2 billion relief program that expanded the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

 “It took a huge load off my finances and will improve my credit, which was not bad anyway,” said Lewis, who works in social work and now lives in Las Vegas. “It was taking forever to pay off. Now, I don’t have to worry anymore.”

The PSLF wipes out student loan debt for borrowers who commit to public service careers or work full-time for public or nonprofit organizations.

The relief program launched about three months before the federal government lifts a freeze on student loan payments on Jan. 31, 2022. In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the country, the feds paused monthly payments for Americans who owe student loans, stopped all collection activity, and applied a temporary zero-interest rate to all debt.

In California, there are thousands of African Americans like Lewis: saddled with huge balances stemming from loans they took to pay for tuition not covered by scholarships, living arrangements, textbooks, and other expenses.

In November, highlighting one borrower’s story, United States Education Secretary Miguel Cardona tweeted, “we are just getting started” to provide student debt relief for millions of Americans.

According to a report by California Student Loan and Debt Service Review Workgroup (CSLDSRW) — established under the state’s Budget Act of 2020 — and the National Center for Education Statistic (NCES), 84.9% of Blacks who earned bachelor’s degrees from 2015 to 2016 owed an average of $34,000 upon graduation.

CSLDSRW’s study also found that Californians of color default more on their student loans. Neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area with the largest percentages of Black and Latino residents had 19.9% of borrowers in delinquency and 15 % in default.

In Los Angeles, borrowers living in ZIP codes with high minority populations had double the amount of default rates than borrowers in ZIP codes that are predominantly White.

U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) told the media at an event hosted by the American Federations of Teachers earlier this year that she, too, had defaulted on her student loans.

Black women carry 20% more in student debt than White women, according to the American Association of University Women, an advocacy faction that fights for fair pay and economic opportunities for women.

“Like 85% of Black students, I had to borrow; and like so many of those students, I had also defaulted on those loans. We know that Black and Brown students are five times more likely to default for those loans than our White counterparts,” said Pressley.

CSLDSRW’s reported that among all borrowers, Black women accrued more student debt, an average of $37,558, from their undergraduate studies than any other group.

According to EducationData.org, a website that addresses the rising cost of higher education, Black college graduates owe an average of $52,000 in student-loan debt – nearly $25,000 more than their White counterparts.

In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 424, the Private Student Loan Collection Reform Act, which places new documentation requirements on private student loan lenders before activating any collection activity. AB 424 becomes law on July 1, 2022.

“We’re turning commitments into reality by ensuring that our students have more access to high-quality educational opportunities, creating a change of course for generations to come and bolstering California’s innovation economy,” said Gov. Newsom said when he signed the legislation.

“Californians have thrived at our world class universities for decades, but not everyone has had similar access – today that’s changing,” he continued. Everyone deserves a shot at the ‘California Dream”

The U.S. Department of Education expects thousands more to benefit in the coming months from more federally funded debt relief programs.

Over 45 million Americans have a total of $1.7 trillion worth of student loan debt. Progressive lawmakers have pushed Biden to wipe out all federally held debts up to $50,000 and they are making efforts to stop repayments of loans.

“89% of student borrowers say they aren’t financially ready to resume student loan payments & 27% will be spending at least a third of their income on payments when they resume,” tweeted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “Student debt is dragging down our communities and economy@POTUS should #CancelStudentDebt.”

By Lou Yeboah

Oh, I can’t help but respond with an offering of praise. You see, the Father gave His son. The Son gave His life as a ransom for me and you. [Galatians 1:4]. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” [John 3:17]. God sent His Son to be born of a virgin and to be born into human flesh, to live a perfect life and to have Him give His own life so that we might be saved and not fall under condemnation but rather, be saved by the free gift of grace [Ephesians 2:8-9].

Thank You, Lord for Your Indescribable Gift of Jesus. The invaluable, unspeakable gift You have given us! No thoughts, words, or songs can begin to convey the greatness of Who Jesus is, nor of the love You lavish on us by sacrificing Your beloved Son! I thoroughly delight in the incomparable benefits [current and eternal] that I have received through life in Him [His glorious strength, peace, hope, mercy, pardon, righteousness, love, wisdom, joy, deliverance, light and infinitely more]. Thank You that I have everything in Your Indescribable Gift! I repent for how I have often not treated Him as Your Indescribable Gift, and I pray that I, my family members, and all other believers will, from now on, Exult in Him. Experience Him as Your Pleasure. Know Him as Your Treasure. Love Him, Honor Him, Cherish Him, Worship Him, Abandon ourselves to Him, Abide in Him and speak continually about Him as Your blessed Indescribable Gift.

What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.” [Psalm 116: 12-14]. Yes, I will proclaim Your greatness…I will thank You forever. Because my Hallelujah belongs to You. All of the glory belongs to You. I will praise you Oh Lord, because You deserve it. You deserve my love, my adoration, my devotion, my praise, my worship, my obedience, my everything… for you have clothed me with the garments of salvation. You have covered me with the robe of righteousness [Isaiah 61:10]. Oh, When I think upon Christmas! Thank You Lord!

If God has been good to you, you ought to say so. [Psalm 107:2]. If God has delivered you, you ought to say so. If God has saved your soul, you ought to say so. If God has blessed you, you ought to say so. If God woke you up this morning, you ought to say so. If God has brought you from a might long way, you ought to say so. The King of Kings is still alive. Therefore, celebrate Him! Because He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is your doctor in the sick room. He is your lawyer in the court room. He is your bread when you are hungry. He is your water when you are thirsty. He is a wonderful counselor when you are confused. He is your peace in the midst of the storm. He is your joy when you are sad. Our Great Redeemer, Great Jehovah, the Open Door, the Great Shepard, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Giver of the Holy Spirit. The True Vine, Jesus I can’t forget what you have done for me. I can’t forget how you set me free. I can’t forget, No Never. For Grace and Mercy, so freely given, I cannot forget. For Faith that says, my sins are forgiven, I cannot forget. For your sons precious blood, which covers my faults, I cannot forget. Thanks be to You Oh Lord, for your inexpressible gift!” [2 Corinthians 9:15].

Singing ? “Because of Who you are, I give you glory. Because of Who you are, I give you praise. Because of Who you are, I will lift my voice and say: Lord, I worship you because of Who you are. Jehovah Jireh [My provider] Jehovah Nissi [You reign in victory]. Jehovah Shaloh [My prince of peace] I worship you because of Who you are.” [Vicky Yohe – Because I Sing].

“Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful – Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Grateful – Grateful, Grateful, Grateful, Gratefulness – is flowing from my heart. Are you grateful for what the Lord has done, why want you give Him glory?” [Hezekiah Walker-Grateful].

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” [Luke 2:8-14].

Celebrate Jesus!