Best Man Holiday: Movie Review

After hearing so many rave reviews from my Facebook friends and family, I was very excited today when the hubby and I finally got the chance to steal away to go see the movie Best Man Holiday. I promise not to include any spoilers. I find myself conflicted while writing this review. The movie’s core message was unexpectedly heartwarming but the actual execution of the entire movie itself has me on edge as a Christian.

While the movie comes complete with adulterated yet comedic drama, I have to give props to the movie’s writer and director Malcolm D. Lee for not going overboard like Tyler Perry did with his melodramatic soap opera movies “Why Did I Get Married” and “Why Did I Get Married Too”.

HOWEVER, I would be remised if I didn’t say how disappointed I am in my fellow “brothers and sisters in Christ” who positively cosigned on this movie (Amos 3:3). Yes, I fought emotion during certain scenes but as a child of God and the wife of a newly ordained Pastor I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this movie for anyone to go and see. My emotions were touched but my spirit was grieved. While the life lesson in the movie is one that will probably make the majority of us all stop, think and reflect, the constant use of God’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7), vulgar profanity (especially the F bombs) (James 3:10) and the sexual references (I John 2:16) (which includes oral and anal sex) are way too explicit for any Christian too ignore. For those of you who watched the original Best Man, you know the character Lance, played by Morris Chestnut, to be the cursing-christian pro athlete who is preparing to marry his love Mia. In the Best Man Holiday, Lance is still the same cursing-christian. As long as we as a body of Christ continues to accept Hollywood’s persona of what true Christian living is all about, these examples will continue to be exhibited in the movies. Unfortunately, we have become desensitized to the enemy’s plot (John 10:10) to contaminate the minds of the people by presenting a false sense of holiness through the movie screen (Matthew 7:15). By saying nothing, we are telling the unbeliever they don’t have to totally surrender their lives to Christ. We are saying “It’s okay to be the Lance Christian”. (Galatians 1:10)

This movie would have been just as enjoyable without the vulgar language and sexual liaisons: the extremely talented cast and heart touching core message alone was enough to make this a FAMILY movie that could have broken records at the box office.

The Best Man Holiday was a pretty good movie but it could have been even better if it was kept clean and family friendly. It would be nice to see standards established in Hollywood and resumed in Christianity. And before you go there, I’m not judging. I’m standing. Matthew 16:18

Starting from Scratch

It is with my husband’s permission that I will begin blogging about our family’s journey to the next level in ministry. The thought was inspired after hearing Travis teach our children during a bible study session in our living room on “The Parable of the Talents”. Travis taught our children about the man who before going on a journey entrusted his servants with his property by giving each servant talents according to his own ability. The first two of the servants immediately invested the talents doubling their Master’s money. However, the servant who only received one talent chose to bury his instead. When the Master returned, each man gave report of how they handled the money.  The one with five talents earned five more and the one with two talents earned two more. In those two servants, the Master was well pleased and he blessed them. When the last servant told that he had buried the money for fear of losing it, the Master scolded him and called him wicked and lazy. (Matthew 25:14-30)

Travis looked deep into the eyes of our children and said,” God has given us only one talent to start this church and we WILL NOT bury it. We are starting from scratch. It’s going to be a lot of hard work and it’s going to be lonely at times but WE WILL work for the Kingdom of God.”

Sometimes we get discouraged because we feel like we don’t have what’s needed to effectively operate in God’s call. We quickly forget Matthew 6:34, where it says to “Take no thought for tomorrow…”  Other times we disobey God because in our minds we have failed before we even started. We quickly forget God doesn’t call those who are qualified; he qualifies those who he calls. Don’t believe me? Remember Moses and his speech impairment? What about Abraham, married to barren Sarah but called to be the Father of many nations? I’m sure you didn’t forget about the Virgin Mary. The young woman who had never known a man but still became pregnant with the Son of God.

Most people don’t know me but just about everyone who has ever met has to admit this, I’m honest. God has given me the gift to pen and I promised to use it for his glory so I’d be remised if I didn’t say this.

Starting a new church frightens me. I was three when my parents got saved so for the past 34 years, the church is all I’ve ever known. And in the last three decades, I’ve watched the “church” (some not all) evolve into a palace of glitz, glam and hypocrisy. We don’t want to be placed in that category. Back in the day, soldiers for Christ were literally trained up in the word and sent out to reach the lost. Today, starting new ministries is frowned upon. Sunday has become the most segregated day of the week. Churches no longer fellowship with each other.  There is no trust in the congregation. The church has become a place where a person in sin come and hide not be redeemed. Whenever there is a national tragedy, it’s the celebrities you see coming to the rescue. Our pastors are too busy producing movies and hosting TV shows. Our First Ladies are throwing catty tea parties. Big name preachers are too busy working the red carpet, taking pictures along-side cleavage showing actresses. The church(some not all) has become a clique filled cultish empire where any and everything goes. Travis explained to our children, we WILL NOT have any part of that. We pray the body of Christ begins to come together and work in unity. We rebuke the spirit of fear and confusion. We pray wounds and scars within the body of Christ is healed so that we can effectually lay claim on the lost and hurting souls. We pray for the return of God’s unconditional love. In Jesus Name Amen.

So with our one talent in hand, we are stepping out to put ten thousand to flight…. starting from scratch.  

PS: The wonderful thing about scratch is God gets to choose the ingredients of the genetic make up for Real Faith Ministries

Please enjoy this attached video of an interpretive dance, our daughters (Driven Dance Team) ministered recently.

Real Faith Church...How it All Began

It is my distinct honor to write this blog post about my husband. I was fourteen years old when I first met Travis some 23 years ago. We were both members of the same church body, United Holiness Church where Overseer Aaron Snipes was Senior Pastor. Travis attended United Holiness Headquarters in Americus and I was a member of 2^nd United in Donalsonville, Georgia. Travis was a sixteen year old power house for the Lord. I grew up witnessing prophecy after prophecy being spoken over his life. I valued his friendship because he wanted nothing from me other than to see me grow closer to Christ.

Year 1995

 

Never in a million years did I ever think that I would eventually become his wife and the mother of his three children.

We were married in 1996 and even though God was always first in everything we did, the prophecies over my husband’s life as a future pastor were soon forgotten. Travis and I were comfortable serving God under the leadership of our then Pastors. We gave God our all and when we begin to have children, we wasted no time in teaching them the word of God as well.  In 2006, God called Travis and I into evangelism when we started GO Ministries, a nonprofit Christian performing arts team. As you all know, GO Ministries performs free admission stage plays written to uplift and bring families closer to God. We continued to serve our church family and GO Ministries relentlessly for the next seven years.

In early 2013, Travis started experiencing bouts with insomnia.

I can’t tell you how many times I woke up at two and three o’clock in the morning to find my husband in the living room face down in prayer. He kept saying “Baby, I keep feeling this sense of urgency from God but I’m not quite sure what he wants me to do.”  Deep inside I knew what was to come and to be honest, I didn’t want that responsibility. I didn’t know if we could handle the emotional strain this new call would entail. Our family had already been through a lot with sudden death of several loved ones. In spring of 2013, Travis walked into the room and said “Baby, God has called me to Pastor.” I took a deep breath. I really didn’t want to hear that. As much as I loved God, my faith in the church itself was beginning to dwindle because of recent bad experiences. I had also heard the stories about pastors who along with their families suffered emotionally and physically from leading their congregations. And I definitely did not want to be categorized with pastors who ran their churches like a business/cult rather than a place of worship.

Needless to say, Travis felt some resistance from me. Eventually he quit talking to me about it. (I would find out later it was because he asked God to step in and move upon my heart) And God did just that. God ministered to me in so many ways. If I wrote them all, this would become a book not a blog post.

A few weeks later, Travis was in the bathroom shaving when I walked in and said “God said June 30^th should be the last day at (our then church)”. Travis looked at me and said “I know that was nobody but God because June 30^th was the day God gave me too.”

Travis met with our (then) pastor and told him about God calling him to start a church. Travis and I were raised never to burn bridges and to always fulfill our obligations so he gave our (then) pastor a sixty-day notice. Travis promised to train up someone to take his place over the choir so there could be a smooth transition. Our (then) pastor gave Travis his blessing and even some advice on what was to come. One month later, we were told by this same pastor to leave his church and not come back. This pastor refused to meet with us; nor would he tell us why he wanted our family gone. (We were later told by a “church member” that rumor was the only reason why we gave a sixty day notice was because we were trying to steal members which is why we were told to leave) The allegations were hurtful, insulting and angering. The most difficult part of it all was trying to explain to our children why we couldn’t go back. Soon, people we considered to be close friends, fellow warriors for Christ, people who taught our children began to disassociate themselves from us and all because of a lie. I wanted to scream “THIS IS NOT TRUE! WE WOULDN”T DARE DO SUCH A THING. YALL SHOULD KNOW US BETTER THAN THIS!!! But God told us to hold our peace. What they didn’t know was, it was not our plan to immediately start a church, Travis and I had decided to evangelize with our family first.

All our life the church was our refuge. For the first time, it felt more like a war ground. Once again, I began to question whether or not I wanted answer this call. I was tired of dealing with “church folk”. I thank God for my husband because his faith never wavered. Through tears he said “Baby, we are going to do this. This ain’t nothing but the enemy.”

A few weeks later, God led Travis to his former co-worker and Pastor friend who he’s known for 14 years, Pastor Ronald Smith of Berachah Fellowship Church. Pastor Smith blessed my husband with words of wisdom and guidance. He and his wife called for a meeting with me also. They let us cry and then they dried our tears with the word of God. Pastor Smith took Travis under his wing and mentored him on what to do next. I am thankful to God for leading us to someone who was confident enough in his own ministry, he didn’t mind helping us start ours.

On August 11, 2013, my husband Travis Mack was ordained into office by Pastor Smith and the Berachah church family as the Senior Pastor of Real Faith Church.  It was a long time coming but well worth the wait. We are excited and we do not despise our small beginnings. We are thankful to God for every good and not so good experience we’ve encountered. We now understand and our children now understand; what was supposed to be the breaking of us was actually the making of us and for that we give God praise.

 

Life Forever Changed was a Blessed Success!!!

We would like the time to thank everyone who came near and far to see Life Forever Changed. The testimonies are already pouring in and we give God praise. We are so thankful for working with such an anointed cast and crew. Pastor Travis Mack and I love you all for your hard work and dedication. Hugs and kisses to our family for their love and support. Thanks again to our sponsors, to Pastor Gary Stutz for recording the play for us. The DVDs will be ready real soon!!! Special thanks to my panel sisters at Fox 31 Kelly D'Ambrosio, Janet Goree, Pat Fenner and Tracey Madsen. Thank you to Lesley Atkins and her hubby for taking the stage play pics. If I did not post your name it was unintentional, both my brain and body are tired from this weekend. LOL!While we did not fill all 400 seats, we came pretty close at 350. Look at God!!!

 Please visit the GO Ministries Facebook page to see more pics from the play!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viewer Feedback 

 

I was really touched by this play, it really made me think about my relationship with my siblings, so much so that I called my brother today in Mississippi just to tell him "I LOVE YOU." Thanks to you and Pastor Mack for being willing and obedience servants of God. Much Love.

B. Jackson Americus GA 

 

Amazing play tonight, it touched me so much because I lost my mom when I was 12 and I never really have had a chance to release, I appreciate it soo much bless you and miss you! M. McCray

 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED THE PLAY. ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS WAS THE 3 WAY PHONE CONVERSATION AND THE SONG AND DANCING PART. LOVED IT. GREAT JOB. P Price

  

Wow what a wonderful evening...Thank you so much to Bridgett Mack, GO Ministries and the entire family of Latoshia Henry Beard for sharing Life Forever Changed with us.

F. Gibson~Marriana Fla

  

Proud to be in the mist. My hubby and I enjoyed the play, the word and the prayer. What a time we had. Tears and laughter. God bless you and Pastor Travis. Your cast was awesome and anointed. I love seeing you, Tosha, Angela and Jr. role as kids. lol. Reminded me of my childhood days with my siblings. The play is worthy of an award much greater than an Oscar or Academy award. I will be getting a copy of the DVD and your poetry.

Pastor B Gilbert

  

Read Here to Make Donation

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation so far!!! May God continue to bless you and yours. We are expecting a packed house on September 7th so please get there early. Seats are on a first come first served basis.    If you are interested in purchasing a tribute ad, the absolute last day to do so is August 31, 2013. You can make your donation online by clicking the link below.   Make a Donation     or you can mail it to    GO Ministries P.O. Box 2424 Albany, GA 31705     SEE YOU THERE!!!

16 Days Until the premiere of Life Forever Changed!

v.i.c Wobble Baby...Not in My House

Disclaimer:

Please excuse the "grammer errors" you will find anytime you read the term satan. Capitalizing the first letter of a name is a sign of respect....I have none for him...

Soooo, lately I’ve been seeing a lot of Facebook posts showing a line dance to the song “Wobble.” Most of the video posts I’ve seen include our older generation doing a series of seemingly fun dance steps. The dance moves are so entertaining that if you weren’t careful, you would completely ignore the lyrics playing in the background.

The words “wobble baby” and “back it up” stood out to me. My red flags were raised because (at the risk of sounding a bit stereotypical) you generally don’t see older white women dancing in “back it up” videos. I decided to search YouTube for the official video and Google the rest of the lyrics to the song.The search results once again confirmed what I’ve already said a million times before “satan is wickedly clever.”

There are actually two official videos. One that takes place in a 1930’s jazz club scene with females twerk jerking and wobble dancing.

 

The second one sets the scene in a variety of places including a nursing home, a park, a high school gym and club. The dancers in this video comes from all walks of life ranging from backpack wearing school kids, teen girls, and urban street kids to nursing home patients and plus sized females. I watched these innocent children and impressionable teen girls wobble while the sexually explicit lyrics were subliminally implanted in their heads.

After watching both videos and picking my jaw up off the floor, I began to break the lyrics to this song. Here are some of them:

A girl told me that a man who that could dance.

Might could possibly get down with the tool in his pants.

Led em to the bed while saying my scriptures.

Cause I leave ya holy like  you pray in the temple.

Want beef? I move with the led of a pencil.
Get in there (repetitive vamp)

satan blindsides his hidden agenda in music with beats and dance moves that appear to be innocent fun. Before you know it, you find it yourself saying and doing things you wouldn’t normally do. It’s important to pay close attention to what you allow in your home and into the ears of your children.

Sexually explicit music like this puts us at risk of becoming victim to its message. There was a cunning attempt to make this song appear to be innocent fun by including young children, impressionable teen girls and older generational in the compilation.

People are so quick to forget satan was the minister of music in Heaven. He understands music’s powerful ability to set the atmosphere in any setting. There aren’t many places where music isn’t found. You hear music in elevator, stores, in movies, ring tones and even in car key ignitions. Music is a very important part of life especially for children of God. Psalms 150:3-6 tells us

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

⁴ Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

⁵ Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

⁶ Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Psalms 67:5-6 says when the praises go up to God, the earth will yield its increase. We need music. But only the kind that will edify our spirits and send praises to God.

Oblivious ignorance is not an excuse. It's a choice.  Are you willing to take that risk and let your family become infected with satan’s deadly antics?

 

v.i.c Wobble Baby...Not in My House!!!