Praise pornography? 🥴

The title got you scared??

Don’t be…Come on in, take a seat. Lemme talk to you for a little while. Promise I’ll try not to get carried away. 😌

I’ve really been sitting on this conversation for quite some time now and I just can’t sit back and be silent anymore.

Recently, I was recorded (along with a close friend and…my child) and posted on an Instagram “Praise Break” page. We had NO clue we were recorded until we had been plastered and tagged by people who spotted us in the post. I was IMMEDIATELY infuriated and felt completely violated.

Unbeknownst to the person, I had blocked someone that I wanted to have absolutely NO contact with and there I was…there my child was…exposed. 😡

In today’s digital age, it's become almost second nature for people to pull out them damn phones during church services, events, or gatherings to record moments of praise and worship. While there is nothing inherently wrong with capturing meaningful moments because I’m here for the livestreams (I was a faithful virtual, I JUST started going back to the physical building…and sometimes I don’t make it and rely on the feed to attend service); but, the obsession with recording, or even live-streaming from personal devices, the praises of others is totally intrusive and, moreover, absolutely detracts from the very essence of praise/worship itself.

When we make the focus documenting and sharing these intimate moments of praise/worship, we risk losing sight of the sacredness of the experience. Praise and worship are DEEPLY personal acts between an individual and God. In these moments, it’s not about the views, the likes, or the comments — it’s about an offering to God from a genuine heart. But when the camera takes precedence, it shifts the focus away from God and places it on an audience, real or virtual. It transforms a moment of connection into a spectacle. And that’s that shit I don’t like. 😒

Think about it like this: this obsession with recording someone else’s praise is like intruding on an intimate moment between a couple. Imagine witnessing a deeply personal and vulnerable exchange between a husband and wife—a private conversation, a quiet moment of affection, or even a heartfelt prayer -OR- imagine waking up to one of your deeply personal and vulnerable exhchanges plastered all over the World Wide Web??? Yeah…I know you ain’t feeling that right there. Listen, the idea of recording that moment for the world to see feels inappropriate because it IS!..it takes away the intimacy, the purity, and the rawness of the relationship. Similarly, praise/worship is meant to be a deeply personal and intimate exchange between the individual and God, not a public performance for views, likes, or comments for someone to monetize off of.

Now...food for thought — what would happen if, instead of reaching for our phones to capture someone else’s expression of praise, we took that same energy and applied it to deepening our own personal connection with God? Imagine how much stronger our spiritual lives could be if we spent more time in prayer, worship, and meditating on God’s word, rather than scrolling through videos or commenting on someone else’s experience. In the end, the strength of your relationship with God doesn’t come from how many “likes” your praise/worship moments get, but from the time and effort you invest into building that relationship.

I’m not here to tell anybody what to do. Hell, people gon’ people and do what they wanna do any-damn-way. I’m just here to offer a different perspective. Take it or leave it. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Don’t call it a comeback.

WHEW!...I’m picking up the pen (virtually) again and I’m so FULL of emotions.

I am truly, truly, trulyyyy getting back to Genesis---IYKYK.

For those of you that are just getting #aShotOfGEN...

Hi! I’m Genesis.

I’m a divine creative, a single Mommie and a third generation preacher’s kid.

My grandfather was a Pastor in the “Grand Old” Church of God In Christ (COGIC); my mother is a licensed Evangelist Missionary; and then there’s me, former praise & worship and youth & young adult leader, bible-toting, tongue-talking, happy feet church girl. I was the good girl trapped in the isms and schisms, until my search for God (for real) led me to a space of paradox and for many people, it translated to me being “rebellious.” In actuality, I was just learning and unlearning...embracing uncertainty, all while holding on to the truth which is Jesus is real! I mean really REAL!...and it was in my experience of religious trauma and spiritual abuse that I began to cling to God and develop my personal and REALationship with Him.

The Jesus I know and follow today is not the same Jesus I grew up with.

I had to take a journey and I’m still navigating through grace and truth.

I challenge traditions, get quite frustrated with the “church,” sneer at ideologies, question the religiosity of the Christian faith, reject ridiculous standards and performance-driven faith, but what I will never reject or walk away from is God.

So, with all that being said...If you resonate here, WELCOME!