"I'm gonna make her an offer she can't refuse" Capesh?

Wow! Today I got my "fish on the front porch". O.k. you have never seen Godfather? Or Goodfellas? I was raised with a father and 3 brothers. Mafia movies, westerns, Rambo and anything with blood and gore were basic movie criteria in our home with boys outnumbering girls. A dear friend said today this sounds like a mafia! And immediately I could hear the italian music. But that is where the laughter stops. I must admit I never saw what happened today coming and especially by someone I truly love. But as I have said before, power can do some pretty ugly things to people. Or at least power you think you have or should I say power you think you have over me. Today, was a first for me. I have had the honor of having people pray for me. I, unfortunately, have been threatened before. But I have never been threatened and prayed for at the same time. Today was a first! Yeppee! As I have stated before it is a very thin line when blogging not to take things to a personal level. Let me go on record by saying this will be very difficult tonight. Because this is very personal to me. Let me ask you something? Do you trust your own reflection in the mirror? I am serious. I look in the mirror and I have brown hair (Ms. Clariol Pecan #203) and brown eyes. I have a scar above my chin from a personal tragedy. I have wisdom lines around my eyes. I have two ears! That is the reflection I see. I know this to be true, I have seen it. I didn't need anyone to convince me....I have seen it. I didn't need a committee to vote on it....I have seen it. My reflection represents me. So if my professional ministry reflected in the past year and a half someone who will work hard, even after hours, who will pour her heart and soul into the ministry she loves. Her own family will get involved. Cry, prayed and fasted over songs she wanted her Lord to give life to. And praise a Risen Lord that she got to play in that music. And week after week after week after week you saw the fruits of her labor, how is it now someone or several someones can convince you that you didn't see what you have seen. That instead of love there is hatred? I could say the same about all the women I have been PRIVILEGED to work with. You saw their reflections. You saw their work. For goodness sakes you took credit for their work! You saw their fingerprints all over the place and yet now you can't see? There is a cure for this blindness. Humility! Now they don't matter? There is a cure for that. LOVE! I thought I had covered how I felt in the Great Debate 1,2 and 3 on the following subjects but obviously someone didn't read all the post. Or chose to read something into it. So hopefully the following will clear some things up.....
1. History Matters
2. People who question things are searching for answers not grevious wolves.
3. I count...You do too!
4. Being a Christian does not make you a slave to men or stupid.
5. My Lord did not always agree with religious leaders. Oh quite the opposite.
6. My Lord loves His church and so do I.
7. Definition of unity that I LOVE: the quality or state of being made one! It is a process!
8. Just because I don't work for the church doesn't mean I am leaving the church. I am here. I am fighting. I am speaking. I am standing. I will cry injustice. I will cry leave them alone. I will protect my Pastor. I will protect his family. I will protect my family. I will protect my friends. I will protect my church from power hungry individuals who seek personal gain as opposed to eternal gain.
Did we not learn anything from the past? Back to the mafia.... (true story).....there were two mafia families in the upper East side of New York. The first family was well established. They were afraid of noone and everyone was afraid of them. They ruled in the 40's and 50s with intimidation, isolation, ruining of personal character, separating of families, extortion and even murder. They eventually killed each other off or some left the family business. A short time later another mafia family tried to take over the same area with the same tactics. This time, the area was sick of it. Police came in and took care of business before the "business" even got started. Now, if that particular area of East New York had not stood up and fought against the continued tyranny and evil, they would have had more of the same. They said isn't it time to clean things up? Do you know that particular area in New York now is one of the prettiest places in the city. It is filled with classy boutiques and trendy cafes. People want to live there. People want to give their money to the businesses there. They now trust the area. People want to protect it and have it remain clean. Is cleaning and purging hard? YES! But is it worth the fight? It has to be. It belongs to my Lord!