JOHN E. COLEMAN: "KWANZAA: What's Up With That?: A Critical Examination From a Black Pastor's Perspective"

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JOHN E. COLEMAN, well known Los Angeles area African-American talk radio host and the Senior Pastor/Teacher of the Into The Word: The Biblical Alternative Ministries and of Anselm Bible Fellowship of Los Angeles (see http://www.johnecoleman.org/ ), will address the very timely and controversial theme: "KWANZAA: What's Up With That?: A Critical Examination From a Black Pastor's Perspective".

From December 26th through January 1st of each year, many celebrate the first "African-American holiday", now approximately 40 years old, called "Kwanzaa", which is a word derived from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits". This holiday was created in 1966 by Ron Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett), an African-American scholar notorious for his history as a militant Black Nationalist, convicted felon and founder of "Organization Us" (a violent Black activist group that was a rival of the infamous "Black Panther Party"). In Karenga's own words, his goal was to "...give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."

Our guest today, Pastor John E. Coleman, will voice his strong opposition to Blacks who profess to be Christian who celebrate and promote this so-called holiday. Pastor John believes that the dominance of feminism and a matriarchal authority in the Black Church at large are a significant catalyst for the spread of Kwanzaa, which he sees as an effort to eclipse the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to fan the flames of anti-white racism.

While Pastor Coleman admits he believes that nationwide it is probable only a tiny minority in the Black community actually celebrate Kwanzaa today, he nonetheless sees it as a growing threat that may result in far greater contamination of the Black Church, inner-city schools and the African-American households in our future.

Pastor Coleman, who professes to be strongly Calvinist in his theology, received a Masters of Arts Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Talbot Theological Seminary at Biola University (see http://www.talbot.edu/) in December of 1990. Today he continues to teach theology classes in the inner-city to students from all over the greater Los Angeles area. He has spoken at men's conferences as well as supervised marriage retreats in that he specializes in family counseling. He had the privilege of delivering lectures at the Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA (see http://www.masters.edu/), where world-renowned pastor, author and radio and television Bible teacher Dr. John MacArthur serves as president.

Pastor Coleman is dedicated to edifying the lives of those who live in the inner city, focusing primarily on South Central Los Angeles. He has been an avid teacher of Christian doctrine for the past twenty five years. He spent most of his time during those early years of his Christian experience attending colleges, universities, and seminary. He was married to Lucy, his wife of 34 years, and in July of 2001 Lucy went to be with the Lord. Together, they have raised Delia and Leslie, their two lovely daughters, who are both graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).