There is no hell - Bishop Pearson

Several years ago, Bishop Carlton Pearson, did and said things that sent shockwaves throughout the black church. He shocked the members of his Pentecostal mega-church, along with other prominent church leaders when he publicly stated there is no such thing as hell, and he embraced homosexual men and women.

Pearson questioned the doctrines of his faith and made a public argument for the inclusion and validity of all religions. That did not sit well with leaders of the Pentecostal faith. They denounced his new thoughts and ideology and banished Pearson. He was declared a heretic by his peers, and Pearson instantly became a pariah. Pearson’s flourishing membership at his Higher Dimensions Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma dwindled from 5,000 members to less than 1,000. The drastic decline in members caused the church building and property to be sold at a tremendous loss in order to avoid foreclosure in 2006. With only a fraction of his original congregation in tow, Pearson and his remaining followers began meeting at the Trinity Episcopal Church, and renamed their church New Dimensions Worship Center. Later that same year, Pearson was accepted as a United Church of Christ minister and eventually, in 2008, New Dimensions Church was absorbed into the All Souls Unitarian Church.

Now, the former mega-church bishop, televangelist, and award-winning gospel recording artist picks up where his previous book ends and continues to raise provocative and controversial questions about God, religion, dogma, doctrine, and faith in his second book, GOD IS NOT A CHRISTIAN, NOR A JEW, MUSLIM, HINDU…: God Dwells with Us, in Us, Around Us, as Us (Atria Books).

Pearson explores new interpretations of scripture and presents a perspective that looks beyond mainstream religious fundamentalism, Pearson notes that God belongs to no particular religion but is rather, a constant presence that everyone can access. Giving a public face to a philosophy and ideology that many others in the clergy agree with but are afraid to acknowledge and embrace, Pearson, ever the pioneer, spreads his message of universalism and love in an intriguing and thought-provoking manner.

With his extensive knowledge of religious history and writings, Pearson probes the concept of hell and proposes that it is not the fiery underworld pit of conventional teaching but “a human creation used to terrify masses into behaving as their religious institutional guardian desires.” Pearson notes the buzz in some religious circles is that he doesn’t believe in hell anymore, which he says is both true and false.

Bishop Carlton Pearson is an independent spiritual leader and successful gospel recording artist. He was once an heir-apparent to Oral Roberts and a bishop in the Pentecostal Church where he presided over 600 churches. He lives in Chicago where he serves as Interim Sr. Minister of the 6,000 member Christ Universal Temple For Better Living.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Leave your comfort zones - James Amps III

Leave Your Comfort Zone - James Amps III.

Busines, Keynote, Motivational Speaker James Amp from FIVE STAR Speakers on Vimeo.

"If you help someone who's not doing well, that shows your character."

'Don't Let Others Mess with Your Vision'
Middle School Receives Inspirational Visitor

This article on James Amps III was featured in the OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS A MEDIA GENERAL NEWSPAPER Friday, February 16, 2001.

From a bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Navy to a national motivational speaking circuit, James Amps III has come a long way.

And through this life journey, Amps picked up a few tips along the way - tips that he shared with Samford Middle School eighth-graders during an emotion-filled assembly Tuesday.

Amps held the auditorium's audience captive, urging the students to break out of their day-to-day comfort zones. "We have to come out of our comfort zones to grow," Amps said. "We've got to get outside of the zone to excel."

Amps said both youth and adults are prone to both racial and spiritual comfort zones, and he said it was important to break out of these routines. "People can work together and go to school together," Amps said. "But at lunch, you've got whites, Latinos and blacks all sitting in their own groups in the lunchroom.

"We have to pay attention to the friends we surround ourselves with" he said. "We just know we belong to a certain group. If your crew does something wrong, you don't know."

Amps said this is what led to his release from the Navy. "I had a bad conduct discharge from the Navy," he said. "I was running around with a group that was doing wrong."

Amps said one of his friends stole about $300,000 from the Navy, and he refused to "rat" on him to Naval officers, leading to his discharge.

"My dream was pulled from me," he said. "I let another person mess with my vision. Don't let others mess with your vision."

Amps, president and CEO of Amps Communicators, speaks nationally on topics ranging from personal goals to personal accountability.

"Once you lose time, it's gone forever," he said. "Time doesn't care how many DKNY shirts or Air Jordan shoes you have. Time doesn't care about big houses and fancy cars."

The purpose of life is to set goals and do what you enjoy as a career choice, Amps said. "Our parents never chose their jobs. Their jobs chose them," Amps said. "People would be happy if they did what they loved."

Amps told the students they could be their own bosses and own their own businesses. "If you have a passion for something, you can sell it," he said.

He also urged students to reach out to others who were less fortunate or struggling in school and life. "If you want to have a good school, you've got to get with people who are having a hard time and help that person," Amps said. "If you help someone who's not doing well, that shows your character."

"Put your hands together, notice your lifeline," Amps said. "Your destiny is in your hands."

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Tamara's Opus - Joshua Bennett

Brave New Voices slam champion Joshua Bennett performs "Tamaraʼs Opus at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5BwD8zOeM . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

A Panther in Africa

The tumultuous period known as "the '60s" continues to cast a long shadow across the contemporary American experience. Few, if any, of the seminal conflicts that drove the era — civil rights, war and peace, racism, women's liberation — have been fully resolved today. Nor have all the key players in that national drama been tried, pardoned, punished, vindicated, or even allowed to come home.

A Panther in Africa, a new documentary having its national broadcast premiere on public television's POV series, is the story of Pete O'Neal, one of the last exiles from the time of Black Power, when young rebels advocated black pride, unity, community service and sometimes, violence. Facing gun charges in Kansas City in 1970, O'Neal fled to Algeria, where he joined other Panther exiles. Unlike the others, however, O'Neal never found his way back to America. He moved on to Tanzania, where for over 30 years he has struggled to continue his life of social activism — and to hold on to his identity as an African-American.

Pete O'Neal, the militantly outspoken founder of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party, was eating breakfast on October 30, 1969 when four A.T.F. agents broke down his door and arrested him for transporting a gun across state lines. One year later, he was convicted of the charge, which he has always insisted was trumped up as part of the federal government's illegal COINTELPRO efforts — subsequently exposed — to imprison or kill Panther leaders. Before sentencing, O'Neal received warnings that he might not get out of prison alive, and decided to flee the country rather than submit to imprisonment.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .