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In The Pastor’s Study

an interview with Pastor Bernard Roberson of New Jerusalem Christian Church SAY SO!: New Jerusalem Christian Church is a new branch of Zion in Baltimore City. Tell us about your background and please share information about the church’s vision and when it was formed. PASTOR ROBERSON: The vision was formed through many powerful spiritual avenues and was birthed on February 15, 2004, when we held our first service. Some of my more influential shepherds were: Bishop John R. Bryant at Bethel A.M.E., my childhood church; ministerial peers at Good Shepherd Baptist Church; and the late and great Rev. Roosevelt Lunn, who founded Open Bible - House of Prayer, the church where I was ordained in 1990. In addition, I was influenced by the Assemblies of God for five years and was blessed to serve as a co-pastor of a Presbyterian church for three years while undergoing my seminary studies. This background developed a strong ecumenical perspective. The vision incorporates Pentecostal power with sound exegetical teaching, evangelical doctrine, and wholistic clinical acumen. We are affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. This movement allows us to participate in global missions, seminary training, and other practical endeavors in partnership with over more than 5,000 other churches of diverse backgrounds. SAY SO!: Small group meetings are a big part of your ministry. How does it work? Nujeru is formed around cell groups that nurture the kind of authenticity and vulnerability often found in 12-step fellowships. This allows for disciple making, leadership training, and informed care giving. “It’s a place where everybody 6

knows your name” and “iron sharpens iron.” Our cell groups are places of edification, exhortation and rebuke. We often say, “You are as sick as your darkest secret.” We value disclosure in a non-judgmental and mutually supportive environment. It takes the presence of Jesus and skilled leaders to accomplish these goals. But we think it is what real church is all about. The vision is to develop a mature community of believers who worship God in Holy Spirit filled truth and passion, who are vulnerable and accountable in home cell groups, and who serve others through love and servant evangelism. These small groups reach out to the community in loving acts with the goal of sharing Jesus. Our last project was simply helping a single young lady move from one apartment to another. The whole church gave a helping hand. At other times it was prayer walks and door-to-door prayers for willing neighbors in the area. We also sponsored a community dinner where we served free meals to about 150 people. SAY SO!: Nujeru. I like that. PASTOR ROBERSON: The nickname, Nujeru, was something God gave to me for easier recognition. “Jerusalem,” of course, means city of peace. And that’s what we are building in Northeast Baltimore. SAY SO!: With so many churches scattered throughout the area, tell us what makes Nujeru special? PASTOR ROBERSON: I once heard that churches are either entertainment churches, containment churches or liberation churches. We strive to be the last. We are not personality driven or ingrown. Our goal is to reach the lost, restore the broken and reclaim the kingdom. We are learning to place kingdom principles in all the areas of our lives. At Nujeru, all members are ministers; all are expected to participate and not just spectate. We help people discover their

Let God Free Your Relationships ing can separate us from His love, we become From The Grips Of Prolonged convinced that God has abandoned us to a life with no meaning, joy or hope! The point at Grief by: Astra P. Brantley, Psy.D. Scenario One: “I don’t find pleasure in anything anymore. I have not touched the piano or knitted a stitch since my son, Harvey, passed in January of last year.” Neither have I set a foot inside of our church since the funeral. My birthday club buddies weren’t able to get me to attend the little luncheons we arrange for one another each year. I can not bear the thought of family reunion this year.” Scenario Two: “Helen, I imagine that the whole church is laughing at me. They must think I am quite the fool. When Jenny and I started going around together about eighteen months after her husband died, everyone predicted that we would be married within a year. It has now been five! We seem to have a great many things in common and our families have eagerly awaited an announcement that never happens. I’m not getting any younger—I guess there’s no fool like an old fool. I’m so miserable. I don’t know what to do.” Left unchecked, prolonged grief will assume the role of master and demand complete dominance over our lives. Prolonged grief will use trickery to keep us from ever committing fully to another relationship out of “loyalty” to the loved one that we lost. And finally, prolonged grief will persuade us to select someone to date or even marry completely different from our deceased spouse so that the exaltation, love and “sainthood” of the one we lost remains virtually unchallenged! Prolonged grief can be a hard taskmaster and can wage merciless attacks on old and new relationships. Like a true dictator, prolonged grief will insist that it be given total and complete control, attention and energy. In a cunning and insidious fashion, prolonged grief will come between us and every person with whom we share a meaningful relationship. The many tentacles of grief, when unattended, may become so overwhelming that it destroys our ability to hear from God. In fact, prolonged grief will trick us into believing that God is totally indifferent to our loss and our pain. We ask the wrong questions: such as, “How could You do this to me, Lord? You call this fair? After this devastating blow, how can I trust that God has a plan for my life?” Despite God’s Word that assures us that noth14

which we cannot believe the truth of God’s promises over the lies and tricks of prolonged grief, we are hopelessly confused. Becoming a grief over-comer will provide the opportunities: 1) to live out our testimony which of course glorifies God and demonstrates our submission to His sovereignty (grief over-comers see their loss from God’s eternal perspective rather than their own human perspective); 2) to glorify God via God-honoring behaviors in new relationships and marriages; 3) to demonstrate faith in future grace; and 4) to obey God and benefit from His hope-filled promises that the pain of the circumstance will pass and we shall be comforted. Choosing the painful, empty lie of trying to cling openly or secretly to an “air brushed memory” of our deceased loved one over the opportunity to become a grief overcomer, is reminiscent of the choice of the Israelites to worship graven images over the God of their deliverance, and thereby postpone God’s sweet blessing of a Promised Land. No matter the difficulty of the circumstances, the first and most important question to be asked is “How can I please and honor God in this situation?” Instead of focusing on our own desires, we need to seek to please and honor God in all things by depending on His wisdom, power and love, by faithfully obeying his commands, and by seeking to maintain a loving, merciful attitude. There are three ways to go about glorifying God: trust Him, obey Him and imitate Him. Grief is so great that only a greater God could be our means of handling our losses! In the final analysis, grief is about closing ranks when a beloved team member falls. Through our trust, obedience and imitation of God and His provision of promised comfort, through the shared prayers, pain, tears and reflections of others, we make the adjustments necessary to keep us strong collectively and individually! Dr. Astra P. Brantley, Clinical Director of The Brantley Group, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Christian Conciliator. Dr. Brantley conducts workshops on grief for lay persons & professionals and can be reached at 410.625.2900 or www.brantleygroup.com.

spiritual giftedness and release them to exercise them under God fearing leadership and guidance. For a church of its size and newness, we are very diverse in culture and class. We have ex drug dealers, people who work in law enforcement, the unemployed, managers and engineers, Ghanaians, Liberians, Jamaicans, and South Americans. I believe this is a foretaste of the diverse fellowship God is building in Northeast Baltimore. I have often been asked, “What is your theme or hook, or niche? Are you African Centric or contemporary or prosperity centered?” We are Bible centered! Our preaching is expository—directly from the text. I am currently preaching through the book of John. I am not trying to develop a new message or astound you with my oratorical gifts; I just want to be faithful to the Biblical text. To be special today, all one has to do is be one’s self and not follow the ecclesiastical crowd. When I finish preaching I want you to understand more than I want you to shout, but both are good. What I hear after most sermons is “I never knew that!” And after you know, it's your decision to align yourself with God's purposes or not. We are a “Purpose Driven Church”. All that we do comes out of the great commission and the two great commandments.

past or recovery, but we now live for and in Him. This gives us both an understanding of sin as disease with identifiable signs and symptoms. We are not ignorant of the schemes or methods of the Devil. We have learned practical ways of deliverance along with the effective power of prayer. Good clinical therapy and biblical solutions don’t conflict in our ministries. Truth is truth.

SAY SO!: I understand that both you and your wife were delivered from substance abuse and dependencies and we know we overcome the enemy.by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony. Can you briefly share your testimony with us?

SAY SO!: It sounds like there are a lot of great things going on at New Jerusalem. Let our readers know when your services are held.

PASTOR ROBERSON: Sure. Others who had recovered helped us. My wife was helped through New Life for Girls and myself by way of a 12-step fellowship. They gave us practical solutions. I am not recovering—I have recovered from a hopeless state of mind and body. The greatest testimony is that addictions are no longer the center of my life, Christ is. Our identity is in Him, not in our

SAY SO!: I can tell that you believe in equipping and educating the saints. Tell us about the upcoming Purpose Driven Life series of seminars and how people can register for them. PASTOR ROBERSON: We are about to begin the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign on October 2nd. It is a seven-week course based on the popular book Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. The goal is to answer the question, “Why are you here?” We will study five purposes of God for your life while building community using relational exercises. This study will help you understand why you are alive and God's amazing plan for your life. You can register by calling 410-484-4959 or e-mailing [email protected]. Classes will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday evenings.

PASTOR ROBERSON: Sundays at 9:45 a.m. we have Sunday School; 11:00 a.m., Worship; Tuesdays 7:00 p.m to 8:45 p.m., Bible Study; and bi-weekly youth fellowships. SAY SO!: We pray God’s richest blessings upon you and the Nujeru family! Services held @ Leithwalk Recreation Center 1235 Sherwood Avenue Baltimore, MD 21239 410.484.4959 www.nujeru.org 7

AMEN CORNER Find It In A Foreign Place: Ruth 1:1-7 By Minister Michele Irby As I take a look at and ponder over the many tragic times that we have had to experience here as of late—war, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis and most recently, Hurricane Katrina, I’m brought to a state of mind that nothing is what it was, nor will ever be. In the wake of catastrophic events, people have found themselves, displaced, disoriented, discouraged, and disconnected from a life and time that was once familiar, comfortable and secure. I am reminded of a young woman in the Bible who found herself in a predicament. Ruth realized she was in an unfamiliar place not only geographically, but in the situations in her life. Born and raised in the country of Moab, her journey led her away where she met and married her husband. In time, Ruth’s husband and brother-in-law died, her sister-in-law turned away and left for another place. All that Ruth had left was her mother-in-law, Naomi. Both women were in a place of loss and despair, yet they had a hope that they could survive. With nothing and no one else but each other, these women of strength traveled to Bethlehem, a foreign place, for refuge, hope and a new beginning. Many of us are in a foreign place in our lives. Perhaps we, like Ruth, have moved from a place of familiarity—a place of comfort, only to find ourselves in a new place, a strange place, a foreign place! We now exist in foreign surroundings (home, job, church, etc.). We associate with foreign people (strange ideals, morals, cultures, etc.). We are experiencing foreign feelings (confusion, instability, depression and doubt, etc.). We face foreign circumstances (death, divorce, abuse, rejection, etc.) on a daily basis. Simply put, we are in a place that is uncomfortable, deserted, a place of destitution. We ask, how did I arrive at this place in my life? What could I have done differently? Was this a result of something that I’ve done in my past? Questions swim through our minds and taunt us and the answers just don’t come. We are overwhelmed emotionally/mentally, unstable in thought and 8

deed; we are struggling physically with unexpected illnesses, aches and pains, aging; financially, we are in a place of lack where there was abundance; spiritually, we are in a dry place, unable to hear from God, unable to walk in the way we know is right. All of these circumstances that we experience in life, foreign places, can cause us to doubt God and to waiver in our faith. But there is hope! If we follow the path of Ruth and Naomi, we find that these women found several gems of growth as they rebuilt their lives. What did Ruth do in her foreign place? What did she find in her foreign place? First, she pushed herself into a posture of faith as a means of survival. Yes, she lost all that she had, but she was determined not to fold beneath the pressure. She committed herself, her will and her purpose to God. Secondly, Ruth found favor in her foreign place. With a meek spirit, she gleaned what was left over in the fields and she and Naomi were sustained. God’s favor brought her and Naomi protection and provision when they least expected it! Lastly, Ruth found a future in her foreign place. As the owner of the field, Boaz, came to know who Ruth was, he was taken by her and took her as his wife. We find ourselves in the fields of life, those foreign places, picking up the leftovers of times past, gleaning from our mistakes and those of others, searching the horizon for purpose, for answers, for relief. What we consider to be the worst of places and times, God has been faithful in making rough places, smooth, making our crooked places straight, and turning our foreign places into a new home. In the end, Ruth gained all that she had lost and became instrumental in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Because Ruth stretched out her faith, and in boldness obtained favor, we now have a future in Christ. Her loss led to her faith. Her need led to her favor. Her obedience led to a bright future. Minister Michele Irby attends Christ CornerStone Church in Temple Hills, MD. She is the founder of Living By Grace Ministries and can be reached through mail: c/o Living By Grace Ministries, P.O. Box 1362, Clinton, Maryland 20735, by phone: (301) 873-5038 or via email/web: [email protected], www.livingbygraceministries.org.

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