OH it a rough and tumble time for those with TBN ministries. They can't seem to catch a break. Juanita Bynum and Donnie McClurkin are taking some beatings on blogs. The Donnie McClurkin and Obama story should register on y'alls radars around Thursday or so, But I thought I would give y'all a heads up.
It is going to be a rough week for Obama. Some folks are in an uproar about the fact that Obama has a gospel tour featuring Donnie McClurkin. Jack and Jill Politics and Eurweb have more. What these people don't understand is that a whole lot of the folks on that tour beyond Donnie McClurkin share his views, so under their standards, no presidential candidate EVER should have a gospel artist in their line up. . Notice none of these folks were up in arms when McClurkin sang at the 1992 Democratic convention. I'll have more later in the evening, but I wanted to put that on y'alls radar. This is going to be interesting because what I 've been reading the comments on other blogs and they say that they have no idea who Donnie is and then proceed to savage him. What they don't understand is that the relationship between a gospel artist and their fans is MUCH deeper than say that between Britney Spears and her fans. Donnie might come down with a case of strep throat right before the tour, but Obama can no more repudiate Donnie McClurkin than he would repudiate MLK. I wonder how many of these "progressive bloggers" have devoted a single SENTENCE to Obama's stance on the Dunbar Village gang rape. Or for that matter Clinton, Edwards or Richardson's stance on Dunbar Village since they all know about it and have not said a word. Obama office said he would be issuing a statement on August 7, 2007... I'm still waiting.
Now on to the THRESHING FLOOR...
The views expressed in this post are in no way intended to be actual spiritual advice or an interpretation of the Bible, but merely Gina pulling some explanations out of the air after about a half dozen folks asked what a "Threshing Floor" was. I feel like I'm in Sunday school class. Mama, call me correct any of my explanations as you are a Black belt Bible Scholar and me...not so much ( okay well sort of when it suits me).
I loathe anything that might attract church folk to this blog, but many people have asked what the heck a "Threshing Floor" is. So I will offer MY explanation which of course some folk will take as an invitation to proselytize on this blog which will tick off other folks and then I'll have to weigh in and say "settle down" and then a second wave of sanctimonious know-it-alls will come along an say I got it all wrong and God called them last night and told them exactly what a "threshing floor" is and they will insist on leaving a tome on the etymology of "Threshing Floor" in the comments and then people will talk about how the "threshing floor' changed their lives and now everybody needs a threshing floor too. In other words, I'm providing MY explanation, I won't let y'all turn this blog into a Sunday school class.
Well there is a literal definition, but then like all symbols, there are probably a half dozen or more spiritual meanings. I am not a religious scholar, only a churchologist so theologians ( those brave enough to openly comment on this blog) please weigh in. I did however dust off my official Bedside Baptist Illustrated Cliff Note's Bible and have dug deep for my readers who did not have to sit through bible study, BTU, starlight band, prayer meeting, youth meeting, angel choir rehearsal, junior usher board practice, bible drill practice not to be confused with drill team practice, oh yeah and Sunday school.
Literal Meaning
Threshing floors and wheat and corn etc. pop up a lot in the Bible. For example the one that pops up in my mind just off the top of my head is the story of Ruth and Boaz. Wheat played a big role in that story. Have you ever heard the phrase "separate the wheat from the chaff?" Well in the olden days, that would happen on the threshing floor. You would beat or "thresh" the grain to separate the usable part from the unusable. The wind would blow and the lighter, unusable portion of the wheat would float away. Not only that, but the place where you would do it tended to be communal, flat, and God liked telling folks throughout the bible to hang out or carry out certain tasks involving a threshing floor. So folks attach some meaning that the threshing floor is somehow "special or sacred."
Spiritual Meaning ( Depending on who you are talking to)
Just imagine your self a wheat plant and the "threshing floor" is where you would go to separate the unusable part of you from the usable. Or purify you, separate the substance from the fluff. Or say that man kind is a wheat plant and the Universe "threshes" us all to separate the usable from the unusable. John the Baptist talked about Jesus coming after him and basically separating the wheat from the chaff.... the chaff get burned. (Matthew 3:12)I told y'all wheat pops up a lot in the Bible.
Juanita Bynum' $200,000 Threshing Floor
For Juanita Bynum, the threshing floor apparently is the place where the Lord Almighty can reach her on her cosmic cell phone with the fewest dropped calls. Apparently she needs this threshing floor or God's going to put her on call waiting. Its kind of like a prayer closet, only bigger.... and more expensive. Think of it as kind of a meditation room. She even wrote a book called the threshing floor.
Well y'all remember Juanita was supposed to become the new face of domestic violence? Well pretty soon after her initial publicity blitz following the incident with her husband, Bishop Tommy "The Hit Man" Weeks. Prophetess Bynum began to appear to capitalize on her increased visibility. For example, she put up an ad on her website proclaiming that 40 million folks had visited that month. Well of course they did, she was all over the news for being allegedly attacked by her husband. Then this video popped up where Juanita basically asked fro $200,000 to build a new "threshing floor" because she had to move from the house where her old floor was located see it for yourself(this was right after the incident with the husband):
Here is one of the most popular responses to Juanita Bynum courtesy of Character Corner:
