Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 10-13-15 Edition

Editorials
Church Growth Strategies
Breast Cancer Awareness Month:
Raising Awareness And Saving Lives
Towards A Kinder, Gentler Nation
A re we surprised it didn’t take long for Congressional Re- publicans to confirm that Pope Francis’ speech on Hu-
manity had no effect on them per se? No, not really.
After “listening” to the Pope speak, one of our staff mem- bers went so far as to warn, “Only time will tell for those Congress-people who profess religious faith... for the Bible, Koran, Torah, and nearly every other religious guide speaks of how we should treat the poor, homeless, children, sick, and widows with kindness and compassion.” What a mouth- ful!
Well, it didn’t take much before Republicans put away their happy-faces, put on their Scrooge-hats, and got back to business as usual.
Indeed, House Republicans recently authorized legisla- tion designed to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (not again!!/ aka Obamacare) and to rip health care from more than 17.6 million Americans.
After voting more than 50 times to repeal all or parts of the ACA, Conservatives once more showed how heartless they could be by pursuing their attempts to repeal Oba- macare again without any concrete plan to replace where Affordable Health care coverage had once been.
As for Pope Francis’ celebrated statement, “If we want se- curity, opportunity and life, let us provide the same,” it ulti- mately fell on deaf ears. Which brings us to the following conclusion: If we as a nation stand idly by and watch an in- sensitive government disregard our citizens who are hun- gry, thirsty, naked and sick, then we too, bear the guilt of disregard . . . Then we, too, are as Conservative as the stiffest necked Republican Tea Partier, complete with Boston Tea Party regalia.
Empowered Greetings. The topic of church growth strategies can sometimes be one of great debate. It is my interpretation from a biblical and business per- spective the church should al- ways be growing. Study “The Great Commission” for insight.
If the church is not growing, then it becomes stagnate and stagnation leads to death. Let me explain.
According to dictionary.com stagnate means to cease to run or flow as water or air; to be- come stale or foul from stand- ing; to stop developing, growing, progressing or advancing. If the church falls into this category then it is time to do a spiritual evaluation.
Church growth does not al- ways mean an increase in mem- bership. Some churches may
Marc H. Morial President and CEO
National Urban League
“Too often, precious lives are interrupted or cut short by can- cer. Breast cancer, one of the most common cancers among American women, affects roughly 230,000 women as well as 2,300 men each year and is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths annually in the United States. Breast cancer does not discriminate — it strikes people of all races, ages, and income levels — and we must raise awareness of this disease and its symptoms so we can more easily identify it and more effectively treat it.”
Pres. Barack Obama, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Proclama- tion, October 2015.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. It strikes blindly, touching women of all racial and ethnic groups. But while race is not a risk factor for breast cancer, Black and His- panic women—who are less likely to get breast cancer than white women—are dying from the devastating disease at higher rates. To save thousands more lives, we must continue to make strides and improvements in prevention, diagnosis and treat- ment, while comprehensively addressing the stunning health disparities that consign so many women of color to preventable deaths.
The wide disparity in deaths
need to grow and develop spiri- tually. There are churches that may need to grow financially, so that they are empowered to have a greater impact on the commu- nity for the up building of God’s kingdom. Before the church can grow, it must identify the area or areas where growth is needed.
The church must be founded on biblical principles. Church leaders must teach, preach and live by the Word of God without compromising. The church is a spiritual hospital. If the leader- ship is sick than you will spread spiritual sickness versus spiri- tual health. Read Hosea chapter 4.
The church must be spirit filled. For where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. People that are bound will come to a place of worship where they can
and survival rates (Black women have a five-year survival rate of 77 percent in comparison to 90 percent for white women) can be attributed to a variety of fac- tors—ranging from biology to access to quality health care. Ac- cording to the Black Women’s Health Imperative, breast can- cer tends to appear in Black women at a younger age and in more advanced forms. Women of color are more likely to be di- agnosed with more aggressive cancers and later stage breast cancers. Because, historically, Black women have been less likely to get regular mammo- grams, their cancers are more likely to be advanced when they are finally diagnosed. This is why screening, and screening early, matters. While screening can neither eliminate nor undo the design of biology, the earlier you can detect and begin to treat breast cancer, the lower your risk of dying.
Women of color—particularly Black women who are 40 per- cent more likely to die of breast cancer than white women—need access to quality preventative measures like mammograms to reduce their risk. State and pri- vate programs that provide low to no-cost mammograms for women have helped closed the gap between the health insur- ance haves and have-nots. Through the Affordable Care Act, obstacles to regular screen- ings have practically been elimi- nated for all women. Under the ACA, most health insurers are required to cover recommended preventative services—including
be liberated.
Develop partnerships and
connections with other churches, businesses and com- munity organizations. Support the mission of others and others will support you.
Be present in the community by attending and sponsoring community events. Provide services that address the needs of the people in your community such as classes on finances, overcoming addictions or bouncing back from abuse.
Increase church evangelism and outreach activities.
Keep in mind that, although, I have provided some strategies for church growth, that it is God and God alone that will give the increase. Therefore, don’t neg- lect to ask for his guidance in the growth process.
Selphenia is available to speak at your next event or come out and train on a range of min- istry topics. Call or text 813-956- 0185 for info. Stay connected to Selphenia through social media. Website: successcoach- towomen.com. Follow her on twitter at queenofsuccess1. Face- book: Selphenia Nichols, or nstagram: Selphenia.
mammograms—at no out-of- pocket cost.
Despite the increase in access to screening, women of color also tend to get follow-up care later than white women. Black women often experience follow- up times of over 60 days after a receiving an abnormal mammo- gram result. When time is of the essence, waiting for follow-up care may lead to the cancer be- coming more aggressive and it may increase its spread in the body. Low-income and unin- sured women in the 21 states that refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are less likely to have breast and cervical cancer screenings than other women. Expanding Medi- caid in those states could mean the difference between finding early stage cancer when it’s more easily treatable and find- ing it after it becomes life threat- ening.
Treatment is another area where disparities are potentially costing us lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 69 percent of Black women start treatment within 30 days of receiving a di- agnosis of breast cancer, com- pared to the 83 percent of white women who begin within 30 days. Black women are also less likely to receive (or are resistant to receiving), certain surgeries, radiation and hormone thera- pies. Whiles strides are being made in care continuum, women of color must be edu- cated about their options and have access—from care to treat- ment—to improve their out- comes.
Think about this: nearly 1,800 fewer Black women would die of breast cancer if death rates were the same as white women, according to the CDC. That’s 1,800 more birthdays, weddings and graduations we could all be celebrating today. We know what to do, but knowing is only half the battle. Sign up for a mammogram today or encour- age all the women you know and love to make that potentially life-saving appointment.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
Ben Carson, Digging Deeper And Deeper
And then there was Dr. James Watson, a DNA scientist Nobel Prize recipient who more than implied, for all the world to hear, that Africans were by-and-large less intelligent
than their European brothers and sisters. He was added to a not-so-public list of scientists and other so-called egg-heads who through the years had proven their genius IQs did in no way protect them from being objectionably racist and utterly stupid.
Now add to that list a more recent candidate (a U. S. pres- idential candidate, no less) by the name of Dr. Ben Carson, a Black, celebrated brain surgeon who not only thinks Muslims make poor presidents and people should bum rush would-be assailants who carry AK-47s, but argues Jewish Holocaust victims would’ve done far better in protecting themselves if Nazi gun-control restrictions hadn’t gotten in the way.
No doubt, Ben Carson’s deep-hole conclusions deserve a horse-laugh. But the Anti-Defamation League isn’t laughing, and we’re not laughing either. First of all, we are embar- rassed at this brain surgeon’s ignorance of world history else he would have known how heroically Jewish underground forces fought back against Nazi genocide.
Secondly, we are not laughing, due to the horror of Car- son’s “let’em eat cake” insensitivity to a gun-toting-dilemma that threatens to dismantle our Democracy. Furthermore, we aren’t laughing because we remember how certain folks worldwide refused to take crazy-men like Adolf Hitler seri- ously.
We however, take Ben Carson and others like him very se- riously, which is why, Dr. Carson, we say to you sincerely, “Stick to brain surgery” . . .bless your heart.