The Epistle 2-2

THE EPISTLE Issue 2

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF ALPHA OMEGA THETA CHRISTIAN FRATERNITY INC. IN THIS ISSUE

I am so pleased that we have come

this far as a ministry. Being an

active ministry for 10 years is truly

something to be celebrated. As we

approach Founder’s Day and our

10 year celebration, I encourage

all the membership to really

reflect back over there time, and

experiences being a part of this

ministry. How has this ministry

develop your personal ministry?

What were some of the challenges

that you faced, and how did God

help you overcome those

challenges as a member of AOT?

I took some time to reflect on

these questions, I am so glad and

excited about what God has done.

And I look to see what God will do

in the next 10 years.

I also would like to inform you all

that we have officially begun an

Orientation Process with brothers

from the continent of Africa! I

encourage you all to pray for our

brother in Christ. He faces a lot of

challenges as a result of his faith.

We are certainly privilege and

blessed as Americans to worship

freely. We should pray for our

brothers that so not have the same

privileges. God Bless you all!

10th Year Founder’s Day Celebration Information

Our 10 Year founders Day Celebration will be held in Kansas City, MO. July 13-15, 2012. Tickets will be on sale soon. See page for more information.

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After the Music Stops A devotional by Pastor Adrion “Pops” Roberson

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Message from the Editor by Jeffrey Carr

THE EPISTLE | Issue 2 2

“We are gathered here to unite (bring together as one) these two hearts in the bonds of holy (God ordained) matrimony which is an honorable estate. Into this, these two now come to be joined. If anyone present can show just and legal cause why they may not be joined, let them speak now or forever hold their peace. (First Person), will you have this woman/man as your lawful (confirmed by the law) wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony? Will you love him/her (unconditionally) , honor him/her (unconditionally), comfort him/her (unconditionally), and keep him/her in sickness and in health (unconditionally) ; forsaking all others (no one gets this type of love) , be true to him/her as long as you both shall live? (keeping the marriage pure in all ways) (I will). (Second Person), will you have this man/woman as your lawful wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony? Will you love him/her, honor him/her, comfort him/her, and keep him/her in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, be true to him/her as long as you both shall live? (I will). “ (same as above)

“Wives (women to men!!) submit (not begrudgingly but with all respect and honor) to your husbands as is fitting *in the Lord (you are led to submit to your husbands as you submit to the obedience of Christ and His Word. You cannot truly do this with a

whole heart unless you start here) . Husbands love your wives (you now become a true servant to her. You provide the protection, you provide the leadership, you provide whatever she needs through the washing and regeneration of the Word to support her in becoming the Proverbs 31 woman you desire!) and do not be harsh (Quick tempered, rash, outwardly frustrated, inwardly angry, use words and actions that are not becoming of a man of God) with them.”- Col. 3:1-2 *inserts mine

After thirty (30) years of being on ‘paper’, I can say that we have been biblically ‘married’ for the last five or six. No one talked to me about the seriousness of this covenant. No one talked to us prior to…we received no counseling. Then my dad passed unexpectedly and all hell broke loose. When my ‘angel’ said “I do” she meant it. I didn’t have a clue. I don’t have enough space to go into details but trust and believe that you are literally looking at the grace and mercy of God when you see the two of us. God is so faithful! I would not want to be married to anyone else but Vicky Renee McIntosh. Now I can say that Christ has/is showing me how to live out Col. 3. For the rest of our lives as we grow old together, I will spend the rest of my days loving ‘my’ wife. If you are engaged do not be afraid to ask the hard questions. Is he/she reliable, trustworthy, committed? Do you really KNOW them? All of these have to be answered..WAAYYY before you get to ‘touch’.

If you want to have a strong loving marriage that can deal with the ups and downs mentioned in the marriage vows, make sure that you use THE BIBLE as your guide and stick with it. You won’t go wrong. “Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength”. –Mk. 12:30 Make sure your mate understands that this Scripture is your foundation and it has to be theirs as well.

Love y’all Pastor and Mrs. Adrion (Pops) Roberson- Married: September 19, 1981!

AOT- 3/23/2011-“Unbreakable”- (DEUCE! 2)- John 15 “VINEdicated”

The True Definition of Marriage by Adrion “Pops” Roberson


HEADING 4

Congratulations Congratulations to the newest member of the Zeta Chapter, Fall 2012. Probate photos on following pages.

Help Needed We are still looking for individuals who are willing and able to help with the development of The Epistle. Please feel free to contact the National Path Protector for more information on how you can help.

NATIONAL DUES

29.5% 29.5% of the membership is in good financial standing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Dues can be paid anytime using the Wepay system found at www.aot2002.com

AS OF MARCH 2012 QUARTER 3 DUES ARE DUE!

Please see National Path Sustainer Evan Marbury for more information.

Spring 2012 Crossing Ceremony

We are holding the crossing

ceremonies for the spring 2012

flocks in St. Louis, MO March 30-31st.

The itinerary for the two days is as

follows:

Friday March 30, 2012

7pm - ??? Crossing Ceremony

Location: Frat Joaquin Thomas’s House

Saturday March 31, 2012

8-12pm- Breakfast and Fellowship/ Free Time

Training 12pm- 4pm

12:30pm – Path Protector Jeffrey Carr: Discipleship

1:30pm- Path Sustainer Evan Marbury: Leadership

3:00pm- Path Setter Theo Murphy- Stewardship

Saturday Morning Breakfast and Lunch will be provided. Locations to be announced.

10 Year Founders Day Celebration

This year’s Founder’s Day

celebration will

be July 13-15th,

2012 in Kansas

City, MO. Details

will be forth

coming. Please

check the

National Website,

www.aot2002.com , periodically for

more up to date information. Look

for the glowing bulb that says 10

year Founder’s Day Celebration.

Fraternity Business

All Smiles!


Fall 2012 Zeta Probate

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live

together in unity!” Psalm 133:1


Father in Jesus’ Name I ask that these become Your Words. I ask that You remove my carnal thoughts and help me to put to paper what You want to be heard. I pray that the hearts of those who read it will be moved to say….yes Lord. I ask this all in the only name that matters, Jesus Christ.

Wassup AAAAAAAOOOOO!? This is such a wonderful opportunity and I first want to thank Jesus Christ and the leadership of the fraternity for allowing me to do this. Whitney Brown’s death was a tragedy. Yet with death, for the believer, this cannot be nor should ever be thought of as anything less than a celebration! As we were all getting prepared for her funeral to be aired on television, the Lord allowed me to run across this picture. I must admit that it completely stopped me in my tracks and God began to Scripturally show me…life. Let me share these three life-changing thoughts with you. Our lives are constantly on display. Believers Are Salt and Light “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before

men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven”. We all remember Whitney since she came on the scene back in 1985, well some of us can! Her voice caught many people off guard! “Hey DJ play that Whitney cut!” was what I heard many a Friday and Saturday night as we worked up the crowd on the ‘ones and twos’. That voice was literally trained to give reverence and honor to God. How do we know? She, as most other R&B (Shirley Murdoch, Kelly Rowland, Sisqo), Pop (Katy Perry) and others all got their start singing gospel music. The light that you see behind Whitney represents The Light of Christ that (I believe) was constantly with her. When the music wasn’t being sung. Lecrae says it best, “After the music stops”. The impact that God intended to have in her life and in the lives of others was always there. Even after the call to the secular side. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us] because it did not know Him 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”-I John 3:1-3

The world does its best to make the things and people of God impure, unclean, unsanitary, ungodly. Her

gift/life was from God. Yet…. Over the years the media (which I literally cannot stand) made sure to let the whole world see (the darkside) of Whitney’s life. (Her marriage, drug addiction, tv interviews, family, etc.) The Scripture tells us “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”-John 10:10. Here Jesus is telling us about The Good Shepherd! He is the protector of His sheep. In this picture I kept seeing Whitney after the camera shutters, light flashes, magazine/newspaper articles TMZ and the things of the world were constantly crushing in on her. I see a child of God battered, weary and torn. I believe more than ever that Satan would rather have the child of God ..ALIVE who is struggling with truly representing Christ. Especially when they have the opportunity to do so on such a major stage! He would love to steal your witness, kill your witness and destroy your witness to a world who needs to see someone whose life is a testament to God. The question is: What stage does He have you on? I can totally relate. I know what it is like to be at that point of saying to Christ, “LORD when will it (whatever your ‘it’ is) ever stop? Why can’t I stop? Why won’t you make it stop? Now on “this side of through”, I am reminded of this Scripture. “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the

After the Music Stops… By Adrion “Pops” Roberson


revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” I see a child of God whom Christ said, “It is time to come home”. The opportunity to give..THE GOSPEL! I was taking my wife to school the night of the funeral and she asked me a question, “Did you see the funeral?” “No” was my response. “Look at it on BET and let me know what you think”. After watching a little bit of it on the web, it was replayed in its entirety!! (3 plus hours, REALLY?) I have found that funerals are a great place to give the gospel! A place whereby you have a captive audience who is looking for answers. Jude 3 says: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints”. Matthew 10:32-33 is even more direct. “Therefore whoever confesses ME before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven”. Yes the service was touching and moving. Yes it had its amen moments. But there was NEVER a moment for the calling out about the saving grace of Jesus Christ in the

lives of sinful men. There was never a rendering of the Truth that all of us will have to die and face a Christ who will either say “Welcome” or “Away from Me you worker of iniquity (sin) for you never knew..Me”. Two prominent men of God (TD Jakes message “God is Love”) and (Bishop Marvin Winans message.. ”Prioritize) neither one gave a possible world-wide audience the message that could have caused one person to say, What must I do to be saved?’ I say again, neither. This left me with a deep sense of hurt and disdain. How long do we give the messages that allow people to feel ‘good’ rather than the message that just may save their souls? How long do we deny the fact to the world that we have THE message of salvation and that it is only attained through a relationship with Jesus Christ? How long do we deny the full Truth of God before men? Now you may say, “I thought the message was cool!” And to some it was and always will be. I pray that if that is you and if you are a member of AOT or ATO that you search the Scriptures. I pray that Christ Himself gives you a heartfelt desire to see people saved, not just to be made comfortable and to feel good. To not be afraid to offend, to not be ashamed of the gospel. In your life, to your family members, those in your circles of influence, and even more…in the church. Finally I see a child of God, who is now singing for her Father without a microphone, without the pain, without the glamour, without the ‘fishbowl’ lifestyle…I see a child of God who is home glorifying her Father… after the music stops.

EXHALTATIONS

Happy Birthday to the following brothers:

Jeremy Harris- March 21 Blair Woods- March 23 Jeffrey Carr- March 29

Congratulations

To all the new engagements, soon to be engagements, coming wedding

ceremonies, and wedding anniversaries. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.


Greetings Brothers,

This message is written with great excitement and

eagerness for the future of our organization. I am

confident in the direction that your leaders have

taken thus far, and I know as a result of our

obedience, the Lord is going to bless. This

message is going to be a bit lengthy, but I need for

you all to read every word, for it is of great

importance. If you have read the latest edition of

the Epistle, then you may know that your National

Board has created and installed two new positions

to the leadership team. The Expansion and

Recruitment Overseer and the Graduate/Alumni

Chapter Overseer. Kevin Webb will be the new ER

(Expansion & Recruitment) Overseer and I will

function as the new GAC Overseer. As your new

GAC Overseer, my job is to "oversee" all graduate

and alumni chapter activity. Along with the

National Path Setter, we have developed a

wonderful vision and direction for the Grad/Alumni

chapter, and I will be responsible for the proper

execution of events and step that we need to take

to make the GAChapter self-sustaining and

operating in its designed role.

For the first few years, the GAChapter will

primarily focus on professional community service

and outreach, and recruitment. Another auxiliary

that the GAChapter will eventually lead is the

White Lighters Club. Professional community

service projects may include various Health and

Wellness community initiates, forums on various

community related topics, Food bank/pantry

service, homeless shelter service, clothing and

food drives. Basically, anything that could

positively impact a local community. Once we

develop a good foundation with committed

individuals, we will launch the White Lighters Club

which will be a program for teen age boys that will

meet weekly.

Unfortunately, our current Alumni foundation of

people is limited. And I much as I would love to

start activity in every city that we currently exist in,

I know it’s not realistic. Therefore, we will focus our

attention in STL, where we have the largest base

of Alumni members. For those members who do

not live in STL, please don't feel like you can't

contribute. There is always room for you to assist

us from a long distance. For our first event, we

want to hold a Trivia Night. We need your support.

Brother Joaquin Thomas has been diligently

working to develop a working program, and I am

excited about what he has going.

I would also like us to hold a Health and Wellness

Day. This day will include all types of general

health screenings (blood pressure, diabetes,

cholesterol, eye screenings, etc) and I thought we

could couple that with a blood drive. I used to work

at a blood bank for a period of time, and I found

out that approximately 51% of African Americans

have blood type O (+ and -). O- is an universal

blood type and can be given to anyone. O blood is

always in demand and hospital are usually always

short. We need more African American blood

donors. I think this event could be a huge success. I

am proposing to have the event in late January,

which means we need to get on moving. I hope to

have a phone conference meeting will all

graduate/alumni members late November or early

December. Please stay tuned.

Along with the development of the chapter, I want

to formally recognize and exalt every Grad/Alumni

member. I feel like graduating from a 4-year

institution or trade school is a great milestone and

should be recognized. One thing that we lack as an

organization is a desire for excellence. We need to

show that the goal for attending college is to

ultimately graduate. We need to set the bar for the

level of excellence necessary for our organization.

With that being said, I would like all

graduate/alumni member to join us at Founder’s

Day 2012. There, I will present all graduate/alumni

member with their official green embroidered

alumni blazer and grad member certificate. I will

be ordering the blazers from this

site: www.blazers-r-us.com, you can check them

out yourself. The blazer will then be embroidered

with a small crest on the right front side. I much as

I would love to say that I could get you the blazers

free of charge, I can't do that. So the cost of the

blazer is $60 flat. For sizes over 48 reg. then there

will be a slight price increase. If I order 10 or more

we may qualify for a discount in which I will give

the difference to the grad/alumni chapter account.

If you’re interested, send me and email.

Blessings,

Jeff Carr

NPP

Grad/Alumni Blazer Order Information

http://www.blazers-r-us.com/

THE EPISTLE Issue 2

The Epistle 2-2

Documents

Transcript of The Epistle 2-2