Racial Reconciliation

 

Every human being was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). It does not matter if you are of Asian decent, Australian, African, European or Hispanic; we were all created in God's image. It doesn't matter our skin color, our ethnicity our economic status, if we grew up in the city or the farm country; we were all created in the image of our Creator. For anyone to think otherwise would go against the truth of God's Word.

Over the years, we have seen barriers put up that have caused division among different groups within society. People have allowed their minds to create ideas that belittle people who are different than them. God's word tells us in Philippians 2, "But in humility, consider others better than yourselves." This is a call to love. To put it another way, 1 John 3:16 says, "Jesus laid down his life for us, we ought to lay our lives down for our brothers." It does not get much clearer than that. These verse do not leave any room for excuses. God calls us to consider others better than ourselves and to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters - no matter who they are, where they come from or what they look like.

In the past, I have been a part of several gatherings that were designed to bring together people of different color. Reflecting back, these were significant occasions. One of my favorite memories was back in 1996. My Dad was invited to speak along with his friend, Pastor Richard, at a Promise Keepers gathering of men at Atlanta's largest arena. The theme that year was Racial Reconciliation. My Dad and Pastor Richard had rolled up their sleeves in bringing their congregations together in prayer and worship of Christ, and to tear down the walls of racism in our area of North East Atlanta. I can remember them standing before the crowd of 67,000 men, that day at the Georgia Dome, linking arms together, swaying back and forth and singing the song "We Shall Overcome". That was a powerful moment!

Even with all that has been done over the years, to tear down the walls of segregation, we have seen this problem come to the forefront again this year. We must continue to fight for one another. We must love first. This is certainly a kingdom need. Racial reconciliation is close to the heart of God, and the value of every human is found throughout the pages of His Word. 

As we come to this election, we are faced with the question in November, who is the best candidate to bring our country together? Who will pour gas on the flames of division, or who will do his best to invite the healing of Jesus to our land? We need a leader who will bring unity. We must vote the Kingdom.

Psalm 133:1 says, "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity." As we vote this November, we must vote for unity." Let us be those who champion unity. 

Breaking the Silence

Wow, it's been too long since my last blog entry. 28 months to be exact. It was time for me to revisit my blog and share some thoughts on this page. Before my silence, this was a great place for me to come and share my heart in writing.

Our world is changing before our eyes. The world we had at the time of my last blog post in February of 2018 is far different than the one we are living in today. Global pandemic. Rioting. There is a shaking going on. Everything that can be shaken is being shaken. Our churches. Our economy. Our government. Our media. Our healthcare. Our entertainment. Our education. Our military. Our police. Everything is being shaken.

For those of us who are Christians, we know that this shaking must take place for the end to arrive, for the return of Jesus. As I read of this shaking in Scripture, it is clear that this is part of the process of separating the true followers of Christ from the fakers. The spirit of the anti-christ is at work in bringing chaos and fear to all humanity. All of this shaking will either solidify the faith of the people of God or they will fall away.

God is allowing this in order that the Church of Jesus Christ will rise up as one in solidarity, for one final push in the Great Commission. The harvest is ripe. The world is looking for answers. Now is the time for the kingdom of God to advance. It is time for disciples to set aside our petty disagreements and conspiracy theories. It is the time to put our hand to the plow and get to the work of loving our neighbors. The world is waiting. The world is watching. The world is listening. Now is the time to break the silence.

2 of the Enemy's Biggest Lies

For those who are in Christ Jesus, we have an adversary, the devil. There are many descriptions of him through out the Bible. One of those is that he is a liar. John 8:44 says, "There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." From the early days of time he has been telling lies. You will recall how he appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden to officially launch his activity that would impact all of humanity from that point forward. He is the liar of all liars.

Sin separates us from our holy God. Sin starts with temptation, which is when the enemy will try to lie and persuade you to do something that is blatantly contrary to the Word of God. Therefore, the enemy will tempt us with lies that twist the truth in order to cause us to fall away from God. 

In this post I want to expose two of our enemy's biggest lies. Now, I realize that any lie is big, but these certainly have enormous ramifications if believed. If the enemy can cause you to doubt and lose faith, he wins. In my years as a youth pastor, these are two lies that I saw break the legs of many teens and would lead them to a crippled walk with God.

The first is that the Bible is too hard to understand. This has been the biggest excuse I have heard over the years for why young people don't read the Bible or have a personal quiet time with Jesus.  To this I typically respond, "Where are you reading, Leviticus?" Yes, some parts of the Bible can be hard to understand with no background explanation or teaching. However, there are plenty of books within the Bible that provide a buffet of easy-to-understand truth for the novice follower of Christ. 

The reality is, even though parts of the Bible were written 3,500 years ago, they are as understandable and life-transforming as the moment they were written. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." The Bible can be understood by the newest of Christians and enjoyed by the veterans who have been reading the Bible for 50 years. If you find yourself struggling to understand the Bible, let me encourage you to start in the Psalms or the Gospels. The Psalms have truth for every emotion we will ever face, and the Gospels are filled with the action that took place in the life of Jesus.

The second lie that the enemy wants you to believe is that God does not hear your prayer. It is so easy to pray for something and then give up. It is so easy to pray and not see God work immediately or in the way that we have prayed, and then think that God must not hear me because it didn't happen the way I prayed. When God doesn't respond the way we have prayed, it is a natural response to lose faith and come to the conclusion that God doesn't hear. When this happens, we are falling right into the plans of the enemy. He wants to do all he can to discourage us. 

I have come to the place in my walk with Jesus where prayer is the umbilical cord that allows my food source, Jesus, to feed my soul. Prayer is my lifeline because it connects me with the source of life, Jesus. It is the gateway that unleashes the power of Jesus in my life. Without the power of Jesus, the Christian walk becomes too religious and pious. If your prayer life has become stagnant, it's time to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will ignite your prayer life. If there is something keeping your prayer life from taking off, the Holy Spirit will reveal that to you so that you can overcome it. God not only hears your prayers, He is constantly at work even when it is not exactly how we ask.

The enemy tries to drag us down. The enemy wants to guide us away from Jesus. Follower of Christ, drive a stake in the ground today, YOU BELONG TO JESUS. Don't allow the enemy a foothold in your life that begins with a lie. Declare the truth of God over your life. James 4:7-8 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Amen! 

The List

Last Friday night, I took my oldest son down to a Twins game against the Astros. It is a major occasion for us to watch the Twins because it takes three hours to drive from our house to the parking lot at the stadium. The reason we were excited to see the Astros play was because a friend of our family is one of their starting pitchers.

Shortly after finding our seats in left field, Allan and I realized this wasn't going to be just another professional baseball game, as if we needed another excuse to get excited about being there. During batting practice, our friend, Collin McHugh was walking with several other pitchers to left field to shag balls hit out there. When I recognized him, I yelled his name to get his attention. He looked over and I called out my name. So he ran over to talk briefly as I leaned over the center field wall to say hi. I told him, I wish I could get down (to the warning track) to talk to him. It was a little awkward with so many fans watching and wondering what our connection was. He told me that he would put my name on the family list so that Allan and I could make our way down to the locker room after the game. Then he left to retrieve fly balls.

Allan and I looked at each other in disbelief. Did he just say he was writing us on the family list? Were we going to be able to go down to the player's tunnel? I thought to myself, I wonder how many fans here tonight would love to have their name written on this family list? Allan and I for a brief moment looked at each other with a smile and realized we weren't dreaming. Shortly after we came to the realization that we heard him right, Collin caught a fly ball in the outfield and tossed it up to us. What a thrill!

Knowing we had the opportunity to go down to the locker room after the game meant we would not be leaving after the seventh or eighth inning to beat traffic or to get a head start on our journey home. What made this more difficult was the fact that the game started an hour and twenty minutes late due to a rain delay. However, there was no way we were leaving early. Allan and I even took a trip around the stadium to find the elevator that would send us down to the players tunnel just so we wouldn't get lost after the game.

The Astros got off to an early lead scoring a run in the third and fourth inning, then adding three more in the sixth. Then the Twins made it interesting at the end scoring four in the seventh and eighth. When the game was over, Allan and I quickly made our way to the elevator next to section one-twelve at Target Field. As we stood outside the elevator the operator asked us who we were. She wanted to make sure we were on the list. I introduced myself and told them what player we were with. She didn't have to look very far because there were only two names on the list. She says, wow, you would be the envy of most fans here tonight.

Two more Target Field employees and security guards checked to see who we were on our way down to the Astros locker room. Then we waited there and Collin came out with half the Astros' pitching staff. I introduced Collin to Allan and we talked and took pictures together. All of this was possible because our names were on that family list. What a special time I was able to have with my son.

As I drove home into the night and contemplated the events of the evening, and specifically being put on the player's family list, the Lord reminded me of the most important list that any of us will ever have our names on, the Lamb's book of Life. Revelation 21 talks about Heaven and verse 27 says, "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." The Lamb's book of life contains the names of those who have made a faith decision to believe and follow Jesus.

The Bible says in Acts 16:31, "Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." This is what needs to be done in order to have our names written on this most important list. My name is written there. Jesus is Lord of my life. When you make the decision to follow Jesus, your name is written there too and heaven awaits. When our names are written there, it not only gets you into heaven, but you will enjoy being in the presence of Jesus for all eternity. If your name is not written on the list you will be turned away and sent to the horrible alternative. Follow Jesus and join God's family list.