Divided in Christ: Confronting White Supremacy in the Church

2021 kicked off with the Confederate flag marching through the U.S. Capitol. Not far from it, in the same crowd, flew a giant flag reading: JESUS SAVES.

Many Christians who are not Black themselves have condemned the ties between our faith and White supremacy. But many have not.

And that has meant division.

We all cope with this conflict differently. Maybe you try to “win” with information, emailing articles or videos that may or may not ever get opened. Maybe you get into interruption-filled shouting matches. Maybe you try to change the subject to something safer—work, school, the kids. 

Maybe you have been through all of these phases.

And maybe, for some, you have ended up cut off or cutting off entirely. You just couldn’t see eye to eye. And then came the pandemic as a convenient excuse to stay away.

Christian Strangers

What happens now? Is there hope for reunification of God’s hands and feet when the cancer of White supremacy has invaded so many of her organs?

One of the hardest feelings through all this is often a sense of shock, of looking at familiar faces and seeing racist strangers. How can my sweet mother lecture me about George Floyd’s criminal record? How can my uncle, an elder at his church, insist that a post-Obama America is by definition post-racial? How can my neighbor, who taught me in Sunday School, claim to believe the Gospel and still stick to saying “All Lives Matter”?

In some ways, as a Chinese-American, discovering fellow Christians’ racism is less of a surprise. It’s not a secret to many Asian-Americans that anti-Blackness and colorism are rampant within our communities, and you can’t grow up as one of the few non-White kids in an Ohio suburb without discovering a lot of your White neighbors are racist.

Spirit-Led Change

I’ve read and seen a lot that makes me skeptical things will change. Even though it’s mostly about politics, Ezra Klein’s book Why We’re Polarized talks a lot about how for humans, survival usually depended on whether your community accepted you more than whether you were right about facts or morals. So our brains are wired to believe what most people around us believe.

And “people around us” is not just people physically around—zero of my friends or family who continue to hold on to racist views do so without being exposed to a lot of White supremacy through social media, the radio they listen to, and the TV they watch. For some, it’s literally hours upon hours a day.

So if we think logic or facts or a friendly conversation in which no one loses their cool is enough to change someone’s views, we’re being naive. No matter how antiracist you are, will you be able to disentangle your loved one from her entire support community, who might eject her for actually daring to change her mind? 

But sometimes it takes obstacles that feel insurmountable to realize that no obstacle is surmountable without God’s help.

We can remain hopeful because the same Holy Spirit who awakened us to repentance is alive in the most racist of his children. The church as a whole, including many White Christians, has shifted thanks to the Spirit’s work, and I have to believe He is not only after low-hanging fruit. 

I confess to often taking the change-the-subject route over the last year. But speaking with a friend recently convinced me that this is not the right way to go, that far from putting myself in a box it is putting God in a box. I believe that God’s desire is for his whole church to embrace the whole counsel of his Word, and that the same Word has power to change hearts where facts alone fall short.

Believing the Gospel

Some churches try to silence teaching about racism by saying “just stick to the Gospel.” One framework of the Gospel describes it as “Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.” Often, with fellow Christians, we assume we understand and agree on what all of these words mean and how they apply to our lives and our world.

And maybe it’s exactly those assumptions that have allowed Satan to so deeply divide us.

For example, regarding creation: we agree God made humans in his image. But why did he create us different races? How do people of different races bear the image of God?

Or, fall: Is racism a manifestation of the fall? If so, is it limited to individuals or does it reach whole systems and societies?

Redemption: If racism is a part of the fall, how do believers repent of it and participate in God’s work of redeeming the world from it?

And finally and most sharply for me, consummation: John describes a vision of saints of every nation, tribe, tongue, and language before the throne. (Revelation 7:9) Clearly, God sees color and has no intention of un-seeing it or erasing it. The wedding feast of the Lamb is not going to just be steak and potatoes. But what does that mean for right now?

As I write these questions and consider many others like them, I think of Christian friends and family who have expressed racist views. I know these are questions we have never discussed. In our rush to argue about police reform or affirmative action or immigrant family separation, we assumed we agreed on the Gospel and now I’m questioning that assumption.

“The Gospel” is not just a cute stick figure drawing in a tract. The Bible gives us so much more to dig into, forces us to confront so many more questions when we really think about how Jesus’ good news impacts every complexity of human life. Ignoring all of these deeper layers of meaning is not sticking to the Gospel but neutering it, remaking it in our image rather than using the minds God gave us to understand all that it is.

Safety in Theology

If you’re like me, you are not really in the habit of talking about theology with fellow Christians outside of a Bible study context. In some ways it feels kind of awkward and scary.

But, in some ways it actually isn’t scary at all. At least, it’s not as scary as talking about White supremacy. It doesn’t put up people’s defenses. It’s not something most people tend to shout about. The stakes don’t feel as high, even though in reality they are eternally high.

And that’s why as a deeply divided church, we need to return to what we all claim to believe and start from there. We are standing on two opposite ends of a Venn diagram yelling at each other rather than prayerfully seeking to build the crumbling shared ground in between. 

Careful Consideration

In our recent Women’s Bible Studies on Hebrews, we have read how Scripture instructs us to “consider how to stir one another up to love and good works...encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25)

The word “consider” has always struck me, because it implies that it’s not always straightforward how to stir your brother or sister up to love. It takes thought. It takes a lot of prayer. It takes wisdom and creativity, trying and failing and returning to the drawing board to try again.

As the Day draws near, the stakes keep getting higher. Racism in the church trickles down to violence against many people of color, whether individual or structural.

And because of racism in the church, many non-Christians reject Christ. When asked how they’d describe evangelicals in general, 17% of non-Christians in a recent Barna survey said “racist.” It may not seem like a high number, but if almost 1 in 5 nonbelievers views the church this way, the same number are unlikely to give serious consideration to the person of Jesus. 

Yes, the structures of systemic racism and the obstacles of misinformation seem insurmountable. But we do not face them by ourselves. Our God speaks light out of darkness, opens the eyes of the blind, breaks chains and topples empires. We may not see God end racism in the church on this side of heaven, but we know that he can. So let’s pray, let’s preach, let’s rest if we need to, but let’s not give up hope.

A White Mother’s Plea For Her Black Son

To the Women of color in my life who’ve led and guided me in this transracial adoptive walk. To the God of faithfulness and everlasting grace. 

Brown hands hold

Contrasting against the paleness of mine.

My grip holding 

So tight—

Closing my eyes to the ever unfolding 

Stories and wrongs that 

Transcend belief.

Lord, how long have you heard 

The cries of black mothers?

Lord, forgive my pride

Seeped in self-worth.

My strength—

Derived in privilege.

My rosy glasses

Glossing over 400 years of abuse.

Thinking that I know enough

That change will happen

While I sit with hands folded.

Lord, mend us.

Let them hear: 

I cannot BREATHE.

Enough is enough.

Let them see my son 

When he is grown

As beautiful.

As created in your image.

As worthy.

Lord, help me to let go.

Trust—that you love my black son

More than this heart pumping inside my breast

That bleeds with our lost sons

Tamir 

Michael

Ahmed

Names I cannot name—

Their mothers who also weep.

Hear our cries, O Lord.

Lord, guide my heart.

Break down my anger for those

Who Choose not to see the inequality. 

Who Say they don’t see color.

Don’t See the injustice.

The Layers of dark cruel history 

Defining the unconscious designs

That my son stands upon

And defines his future and lifespan.

Lord, help me to see my son grown. 

Preserve his beautiful joy

His sensitive spirit

His fulfilling promise as a son of the King. 

Let not his head be bowed to anyone but You. 

Protect his head, his heart 

From the impending weight 

That shackles his brothers. 

Mercy, rain down on all of us. 

‘Three-fifths’ and the Gospel

Let me begin by stating that I admit that I am not a historian or a scholar of constitutional law. Even so, I have always been astounded by the ‘three-fifths’ phrase in the Fourth Amendment. What about the theology of the Imago Dei? And, to add insult to injury, this term is so contradictory to the words we find in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” How could this have been thought acceptable by such educated men, many of whom were committed Christians? For example, John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a Scottish American Presbyterian minister and a Founding Father of the United States.[1] He was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration. In 1789, he was the convening moderator of the First General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in the United States.[2] Being that the Declaration is so closely tied to someone in our own family tree, as Presbyterians, makes it all the more unsettling in its assessment of the value of other human beings. Naturally, it cuts at the core of how many African-Americans understand their self-worth. In an effort to understand this psychological wound, I thought it would be beneficial to better understand the driving forces behind the three-fifths wording. My hope is that my brief investigation may uncover damaging societal lies, while also discovering how the gospel might apply to the hearts of living with this part of American history, myself included.

My look into the “three-fifths” phrase took me back to the very founding of our country. The Constitutional Rights Foundation states that “at the time these words were written, more than 500,000 black Americans were slaves. Slaves accounted for about one-fifth of the population in the American colonies, most of which lived in the South.”[3] Even so, there were many colonists, even slaveholders, who opposed slavery; Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others made disparaging comments about the practice. Despite public statements of disapproval, the issue of slavery and personhood was not even addressed until 1787, when the Constitution was finally ratified. It was during the creation of the House & Senate, which was addressing the power dynamics related to population and representation, that led to the designation of black people as “three-fifths” of a person.[4] So, this insane position was driven by the pursuit of power in our national politics, a compromise between the colonies of the North and those of the South. In particular, the “three-fifths” compromise functioned as a way of keeping a representative balance between the North and the South. Think about that for a minute! The dehumanization of Black people was partially driven by not wanting to lose control in national politics. Black people were a bargaining chip in the early days of our country’s creation, a tool for regional and national power. Of course, there were many other reasons for maintaining this system. Free labor and the greed of economic gain were vital. As a result, the structuring of our society in terms of race became all the more legally evident, even following the Civil War and the end of slavery in 1865.

Following the death of Abraham Lincoln, the presidency of Andrew Johnson began the period of Reconstruction, which was meant to help provide a mental, psychological, political, and economic corrective to a society that had gotten used to seeing Black people as less than human. From 1865 to 1877, the federal government, with the help of Union troops and temporary governors, were able to create a space where Black folks could fully engage in the life of the republic. During this period the constitution was amended to give them full access to American citizenship and its privileges. Of course, slavery had already been permanently prohibited with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, and the wording “three-fifths” was removed from the Fourth Amendment in 1868. In addition, African-Americans began to be elected to state and national offices and were making economic gains in various fields. However, following the end of Reconstruction, a leadership vacuum opened the door for the disenfranchisement of Black citizens through Jim Crow policies and White supremacist terrorism from the KKK.

Such dehumanizing acts and horrific organizations are nothing new in the breadth of human history. Unfortunately, at the core of all this is the human tendency to consider oneself more valuable than “the Other.” The starting point for this was the Garden of Eden, where the Serpent, Adam, and Eve thought they knew reality better than Creator God. By their act of defiance, they demonstrated their willingness to stage a coup against God. As a result, their sin started a chain reaction that has perpetuated such attitudes throughout human existence. This rebellious strain has been passed on through the generations (see Romans 5). Consider, for example, Genesis 11 and the scattering of the people at the Tower of Babel, where God confused the peoples by giving them different languages. With such confusion, an even a deeper level of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety worked its way into human experience. Consequently, power struggles increased between people groups and empires, which were driven by a desire to dominate others and prove the supremacy of their god(s). In fact, the ancient Israelites and other peoples in the Ancient Near East tried to convey their supremacy over defeated foes through ancient covenants, the language of which could be quite dehumanizing. Even God’s people, Israel, dehumanized their own people and others, just read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Nehemiah, which all deal with the treatment of the poor, or John 4, which deals with their view of the Samaritans, or Acts 10 on treatment of the Gentiles, to name only a few.

The objective of this post has been to show that degrading the image of God in “the Other” has deep roots that trace back to the beginning of creation. As such, I do not believe there has been a culture in human history that has not been involved in some form of de-valuing of the Lord’s image bearers. So yes, the “three-fifths” designation for African-Americans is a deep stain on the American conscience and the American “record,” but it’s a stain on the garment of every human culture. We thus make ourselves into a mockery in mocking the image of God in others. And yet, the story of redemption is about how the only “true image-bearer” seeks to restore us to our true selves. Stay tuned... more on that story is coming throughout the month of February. 

1. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Witherspoon

2. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Witherspoon

3. [3] https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/the-constitution-and-slavery

4. [4] https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/the-constitution-and-slavery

Thoughts on Minority Representation, Our Society, and the Church

I never really grasped the importance of minority representation until recently.

Let me explain.

For Christmas last year my kids, who are Black, received a children’s book about the Obamas. It’s a nice little book about how the Obamas have worked hard for equality, stewardship of the earth, and a healthier America. One day, my son, a curious boy, pulled the book off the shelf and started asking questions about it. “Who’s that on the cover? What did he do? What’s a ‘President’?” At first, I didn’t think much of these questions, but as I began talking about how Barack Obama was African American (“chocolate,” as our son says) and held one of, if not the most, powerful positions on the planet I saw my son’s eyes grow larger and larger. I came to realize just how energized he was by the fact that someone who looked like him was so important. He didn’t even know what “President” meant (he still doesn’t), but he knew it was something special, and what made it more special was that Obama has the same color skin as him.

The more I thought about it, the more I was also like, “Yeah, it is super cool that Obama, a Black man, became President!” I started probing deeper into President Obama’s life and legacy. Eventually, I stumbled on John McCain’s 2008 presidential election concession speech (and here). I’m not sure I had ever heard the speech before, but it was interesting in light of recent events. In case you need reminding, there was a time when certain conspiracists, Donald Trump foremost among them, spread the lie that Obama was not born in the US, and was not, therefore, eligible for the Office of the President. There were also people saying that Obama was a Muslim who wanted to destroy the US. Terrible, terrible racist things were said. Unlike some politicians these days, McCain stood up for Obama throughout his campaign, opposing some of his own supporters to their faces when they tried to spread false information about his opponent. McCain now looks like a man standing among playground children for having done so (also see this). In his concession speech, McCain—again, he had just lost—emphasized, “This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.” I don’t see McCain as a flawless man mind you (nor his concession speech), but to this day I’m struck by how he highlighted the significance of the 2008 election for millions of Black people across the US (even as his audience booed every time they heard the name “Obama”), all still feeling the sting of this country’s racist legacy. I’m struck by how McCain, a decade before my son was born, affirmed my son’s pride in the accomplishment of another Black man.

Whether its Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Raphael Warnock, Cory Booker, or Tim Scott, you don’t have to agree with someone’s politics to celebrate what they might represent—in this country, a light flickering in the dark history of violence and discrimination. In no sense do I want to turn the figures I just mentioned into “tokens,” signs of “how far we have come” or something like that. We have work to do that feels insurmountable at times. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery (among many others), delight at the purposeful butchering of Kamala Harris’s name (also here), and the Capitol insurrection, even “Jewish Space Lasers” (look it up; also this) show us how hate rears its head from top to bottom in our society.

In America, there has been a trend among White people to paint over differences in color and gender, to pretend we don’t see them. We want to say, myself included, “it doesn’t matter what your skin color is or whether you’re a man or a woman; Americans judge fellow Americans on the basis of merit, not skin color, background, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The past is the past. We don’t deal with those issues anymore.” As the long, arduous year of 2020 has shown, that’s simply not true.

I fear we make a similar move in the church. Hear me out. In the church, we like to cite Galatians 3:28—“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”—as proof that since we are all united in Christ we shouldn’t care about “trivialities” like minority representation in the church. “That’s a fleshly concern,” I’ve basically heard people say. Or, we like to say, “Black or White, it doesn’t matter. As long as they love Jesus, it’s all good!” It’s a kind of “I don’t see color or other differences” Christianese response. We can then slide further into something entirely unbiblical—a reflexive opposition to difference, outright or subtle.

In Revelation 21, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descends from the heavens prepared as a bride. There isn’t a temple in this Holy City and there isn’t a sun or moon. God’s glory provides the light. On whom does the light shine? Revelation says, “the nations.” In fact, Revelation 21:26 states, “The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into [the city].” In the Ancient Near East, “the nations” could denote all sorts of human “groupings”—ethnic, political, social, etc. Most importantly, what Revelation 21 shows us is not the total dissolution of differences, but God’s celebration of difference. As theologian William Storrar writes,

The one new humanity in Christ is a community of unity in diversity, a holy nation made up of people of all nations who, in embracing their new identity in Christ, retain their social and cultural identities as Gentiles and lose only the oppression and distorting effect of sin and their separation from God’s covenant people… The Bible affirms both equality and difference.

Honestly, I don’t know what that looks like most of the time. Sometimes I see glimpses. I live in a broken world that struggles to recognize difference in a way that isn’t pandering, self-satisfying, or goes beyond a meaningless gesture. The good news of Revelation 21 is that whatever this recognition of difference is supposed to be, it will be perfected and pleasing to God. How great is that! Think about it. There are right now brothers and sisters in Christ who were racists praising God in the heavens because they were set free from that racism, an ironic twist on their earthly lives.

We, still earth-bound beings, are all united by Christ, but, once again, we also live in a broken world where we have to fight hard against our biases and fight hard for racial and ethnic equality. Part of what it means to fight hard (biblically) for racial and ethnic equality in our present is to recognize and celebrate that unity in diversity.

Do we even try to live with the knowledge that God has set us free to embrace unity in diversity? I fear we, the church, as individuals or entire churches, often repackage unity in Christ into a type of Christian “tokenism.” That is, we can easily use unity, forgetting in diversity, as evidence of our “profound” spirituality, a sign of how “non-racial,” “post-racial,” or whatever you want to call it, we are. So, we use unity in Christ to push away wrestling with minority representation in the here and now because that wrestling makes us uncomfortable. Maybe, just maybe this happens in our own church.

Take heart! Christ will come again and set right all things! But we would be fools to forget how our future hope of perfected unity in diversity is impacted by our sinful minds, our family histories, and the way our society oppresses and demeans the marginal. More than fools, we may be in sin to deny sin’s presence. May we remember that unity in diversity matters: it matters to God.

Lift EVERY Voice and Sing

So, this particular blog is coming from a direction of music. Big surprise coming from the “Music Guy,” huh?  I want to talk a bit about statements we often hear, like “music is universal,” “people can be unified through music,” or “people are introduced to other cultures through music.” All these are true. Still, I think we often miss an opportunity to truly embrace other cultures in our Christian faith because we never really stop to consider how God, through the power of the Holy spirit, is working in and through the music of a diverse array of people groups. And so, we never truly, as Christ followers, see the value in another group/culture/ethnicity as expressed in their music. So, let’s take a moment to do so.

In the Black or African American community (whichever descriptive title you choose to employ), there’s a song dubbed to be the BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM, entitled “LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING.” The song was written as a poem in the late 1800s by James Weldon Johnson and then put to music by his brother Rosamond Johnson. The initial purpose of writing the poem (I’ll refer to it as a song from hereon out) was to celebrate the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. For the anniversary on that particular year, Johnson’s song was taught to hundred of young people in a children’s choir. Despite having all the elements of a perfectly written hymn, it unfortunately wasn’t valued as anything significant in the wider body of Christ, namely among White American Christians. After the performance, the brothers forgot about the song and went on with their lives. But, the song was adopted by the NAACP as the National Black Anthem, some twenty years later. It has remained circling around the Black community for all these decades. 

But here, things get really interesting. To actually know the song is to know the story of James Weldon Johnson and to recognize how the song lays out God’s actions in history, including how these actions relate to every community, culture, and people group.

I’m going to say a little bit more about James Weldon Johnson in just a moment, but we must first talk about our openness to receiving the experiences of the afflicted through music. We are taught in the Bible that one of the ways to give praises to our God is through the singing of Spiritual Songs, Hymns, and Psalms, as Psalms 96: 1-2 says:

Sing to the LORD a new song;

    sing to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;

    proclaim his salvation day after day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

The deeds of the Lord are seen through His Grace, His Mercies, and His Miracles. They are also expressed when He avenges the blood of those whom he is mindful of—the afflicted, whose cries He does not forget (see Psalm 9:11-12).

Naturally, most songs are written in light of a personal experience or struggle, and thus they reveal God’s faithfulness, including His redemptive plan, His unconditional love, and His comfort.

For the Christ follower, whether we experience the same struggle of a song writer or not, when we hear of, recognize, and understand God’s deeds—even His responses to a particular (afflicted) group of people, our hearts should be should compelled to be both empathetic and sympathetic. More importantly, we should be joyful in seeing how God has orchestrated a given situation so His Glory would be revealed.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” reveals the Holy and Righteous Deeds of our God as laid out in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It speaks of a Faith forged in the fires of a dark past, a Faith that can only exist in knowing how Jesus Christ encourages and helps us endure. For example, as the song says, “the Hope that the present has brought us” is revealed when God’s people (the Church) look back and see how God has brought them through and kept them. The lyrics of the song are as follows

Lift Every Voice and Sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.

When we sing “God of Our Weary Years, God of our Silent Tears,” we are acknowledging God’s sovereignty when things seem at their worst. And, when we sing “Thou who has by Thy might led us into the light keep us forever in our path we pray,” we recognize that our path is according to His Plan, a Plan for our good, not evil, offering a future and a hope. This resonates with Jeremiah 29: 11-13, which says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

The song reminds us how our feet are easy to stray from the place of freedom when we first came to know Jesus. Also, We can become so drunk with the lust of worldly things that our actions are no longer guided through the power of the Holy Spirit but through the flesh. 2 Peter tells us that without being intentional in this manner we become blind, narrow-minded, and even forget we were saved. But, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can stay the course. Psalm 36:7 speaks of God’s steadfast love and being shadowed in the refuge of His wings. The song also reminds us that as Christians we must first and foremost be true to our God, our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ through faith. Likewise, we can say that the song encourages us to simply remember the truth of the past—the truth that regardless of the struggles and trials, there will be restoration and glory given to God.

Interestingly enough, although James Weldon Johnson was raised as a Christian with two parents who were believers (his mother directed a choir for years and his father was a preacher), James states in his autobiography that when he wrote the song he considered himself to be more of an agnostic. He loved reading the Bible and thought it was the greatest book ever written. He also enjoyed going to church hearing different preachers, even doing some teaching and preaching as a young man. But, as an agnostic, he just thought, as he described it, “The teachings of Jesus Christ to be the loftiest, ethical, and spiritual concepts the human mind has yet to borne.”  Yet, it’s interesting when James Weldon Johnson recounts writing this particular song, he said that the first line came rather easily. He then had to grind out the next couple. Then, when he came to “sing a song” (lines 5-6), the “spirit” of the song took hold.  He goes on to state that the words flowed through both agony and ecstasy until he reached the third verse. He was so overwhelmed; tears would not stop flowing. He describes it as a “transporting” experience.

Again, after completing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and seeing it performed, Mr. Johnson and his brother Rosamond completely forgot about the song, moved to another state, and continued on with their lives. But, God had a plan. All the while the song was continuing to grow in reputation and usefulness until 20 years later it was being sung across the United States and had been adopted by the NAACP. Now it’s cataloged in many African American hymnals as a song to be sung any time of the year. It was a song Johnson wrote somewhat casually, even if through agony and joy. He forgot about it, and yet the song continues to be sung to this day. I would suggest to you that the reason is due to the message of Gospel presented in the song. The same hope communicated in the song still remains today: that God will come and take us home one day. This is exactly why we “Lift Every Voice and Sing ‘til earth and heaven rings” (the song’s first line). Through the struggle of a particular group, every person who comes to know Christ will see God’s faithfulness and His redemptive love.

So, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a song that should be sung not just during Black History Month, but at every point during the year because it’s a story about the deeds of the Lord. It’s a song representative of many groups, from biblical times to this present age and beyond.

Ponce's "Bible-In-One-Year" Reading Plan

Well, it's Thursday, December 17th, and by now you have chosen to participate in the Ponce’s Bible-In-One-Year Reading Plan in some way, shape, or form. Perhaps, undertaking this task brings to mind a time when you tried reading through the entire Bible in a year. Maybe, because of those "failed" attempts, you've made the decision to not even try another, similar reading plan. I can relate. I have also experienced the discouragement that comes with struggling to keep pace with a Bible-reading program. Sometimes, I've just given up. Of course, some are motivated by regimented tasks--they immediately start tackling the daily readings. I've experienced moments like that in the past, but it's usually short lived. If in the first three days you're flourishing, praise God and keep it up! But, if you've just begun the program and already find yourself behind, let me encourage you with a couple comments. (As we go, I'll be sharing one or two encouraging comments each week)

A steady "Bible diet" is important for our encounter with the Triune God, not a badge of accomplishment. So, if an encounter with the Lord is our goal, then God's redemptive grace is the foundation of our reading. In other words, encountering the Triune God through a "Bible diet" happens only because the Triune God gives it to us as a gift. Encountering the Triune God through the Bible is fundamentally not about our accomplishments, but God's. When writing to the Galatians, Paul affirms this fact through several rhetorical questions, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" If we were to rewrite what Paul says for our situation, we'd ask--"Why would you, dear Christian, believe experiencing God through His Word is about you? Wasn't it the Holy Spirit who drew you to God in the first place? Don't you believe it the Spirit who sustains your love for God?" Brothers and sisters, our efforts to read the Bible don't make us any more acceptable to our Lord Jesus Christ. But that's good news actually! We can relax. We can read the Bible out of a true love for God, not out of an obligation to somehow satisfy God. You weren't under the law before you were saved and you aren't under the law now.

So, friends, tackle today in the power of the Spirit. Pray that Our Father make Himself more real to you in the midst of your reading. Enjoy the greatest gift He has given you simply because He loves you--His presence.

Blessings—

Rev. Tolivar Wills

Walking In Light of the Kingship of Christ

"(14) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, (15) and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'." Mark 1:14-15

While recently reading the Gospel of Mark, these two verses at the beginning of the book stunned me. They present a simple, yet jarring transition in the focus of Jesus' ministry; Jesus moves from preparation to "actuality." Right when His cousin's (John the Baptist's) ministry abruptly ended, Jesus took the baton from John and, without skipping a beat, embraces His identity as the King of a New Israel. There is no panic or surprise from Jesus. It’s as if John’s tragic death was part of God’s plan (yes, it was), or it was a natural result of proclaiming God's kingdom--a kingdom that does not acknowledge or honor earthly kingdom-building. Regardless, right after John--the greatest man born of a woman, according to the text--dies, the show had to go on; Jesus followed John's death by immediately, and boldly, proclaiming that a new King and a new kingdom had come. It was, Jesus said, already here. 

Jesus' change in ministry focus was reflected in the boldness of the radical message as well: "repent and believe the gospel." Jesus proclaimed: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand…" In other words, the Kingship of the Triune God was and is present and NOW!  Taking the implications further, this Kingdom was and is challenging the authority of all other kingdoms, even in our present age. Jesus is disruptive--past, present, and future. When Jesus said "Repent," He was targeting all politicians and political systems, whether it was Herod, Rome, Caesar, the idols of our contemporary political parties, etc. Remember! Repentance means turning away from anything we elevate over the Kingship of the Triune God, including our political idols. 

Jesus went on to say, "and believe in the gospel." The command here was to trust (fully and completely!!!) the good news--that the King of the Universe has arrived, is re-establishing His authority, and will restore all things. To the Christ-follower, this is good news because it means we're set free from idolatrous allegiances, not only from idolizing the kings of this world, but also from idolizing anything politically oppressive that obscures the image of God in all people. In other words, Jesus was saying, "Yo, people! Stop following pretenders. Stop making idols out of politics and politicians. The ONLY true King is present. Come see the goodness of my kingdom."

This reality is helping re-shape my position, posture, and practice as it relates to politics. I have been asking myself: in following Jesus, am I seeking to challenge the "kings" of our day? Is my spiritual walk pointing to King Jesus or to my political/ideological agenda? If Jesus was more deeply in control of my mind, then wouldn’t my position, posture, and practice be different from any particular political party platform? Shouldn’t walking with Christ make aligning with any party or side more difficult? Just maybe, easily aligning myself with one group comes from my desire for acceptance. A stronger understanding of Christ's kingship should have profound implications for how I relate to worldly "kings." 

Therefore, as many of us soon head to the polls, I pray that Christ's kingship would enable each of us to transcend vicious bickering, and that we would call each other back to what we all really need: the Kingship of Jesus! 

Prayers That Transcend Time and Circumstance

Lord, there is a great tumult in the world right now: we pray you overrule it for your glory. Grant that the best ends of progress, of truth and righteousness, may be subserved; and may it be seen still, that the Lord reigns. Even though the people should riot and rebel against the truth, advance your cause; even by disaster and defeat if so it must be, or by success and prosperity.

-Charles Spurgeon (Taken from http://spurgeonbooks.com from their daily Pray with Spurgeon newsletter)

The  tendency in our day, and perhaps in every generation, is to think that our historical context is unique to the annals of time. However, as I have been talking with folks who are 20 years and older than me, it is amazing how many of them reference the tumult of the ’60s.  This pattern of comparison reminds me that as Solomon stated in the book of Ecclesiastes, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ still proves itself true and relevant to our own times. Racial, political, global conflicts, and pandemic-like trials have been present in nearly every generation. But even more important is the fact that the witness of Scripture and the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the ages points to the centering and priority of its own life:  the Sovereign God of the Universe. 

These two sources provide us a biblical framework for how we are to think about our unique places in time. They point us away from humanity’s best thinking and onto the center of the universe. They reminded us that the story of history is not about us; but about the glory of God and His grand story to redeem all things back to Himself.  When I understand my life in view of this eternal perspective, I realize that our present scenarios are but small pieces of a grander story, which the Lord our God oversees.  

May the Lord help us to not lose sight of the centrality of God’s story in our lives. 

Emotions Spilling Over Brunswick (…now Minneapolis)

Brunswick, GA 2020. Minneapolis, MN 2020. A father & son duo hunting down a man of color. A police officer’s knee on the neck of a human being. A conflicted and compromised legal system. Four against one in handcuffs. GBI investigating the merits of the case. Bad International coverage in both cases. Two very long months of waiting for action. Only one policeman arrested.  And then the video release. These seemingly senseless, rash, and nearly covered-up murder of Ahmaud Aberry & George Floyd has caused a deep sadness to settle into my soul. Despite my best efforts to hold it together, I found myself, your black pastor, deeply troubled. You may be thinking, “Pastor, what took you so long to respond to such horrible situations; especially justice issues such as racism?” Well, to put it simply, the depth of varying emotions has forced me to slow down to listen to both the voice of God and my own heart. Being a person of color, these events have hit me extremely hard, unlike any other time in my life. As such, it has been nearly impossible for me to look at these scenarios in an objective way; it is hard to separate myself from Ahmaud’s & George’s murders because those scenarios could have been me. 

It’s as though these traumas are happening to all black people. I have been, without a doubt, angry, depressed, full of sorrow, fearful and anxious, and many other emotions found on the ‘emotions wheel.’ I have been on the verge of tears several times over the past few weeks. Initially, I wasn’t really sure why, or maybe I was trying to ignore the growing story that has been placed before us on social media. I think, in some ways, I was trying to ignore them or maybe trying to suspend judgment until more details became available. However, as we all have been exposed to more information, the reality of these avoidable acts are too much to keep in the background of my mind and emotional life. The wave of emotions that have swooned over me has a range that I simply cannot share with most people. Yes, like many other people of color, I am sick of the hypocrisy that exists within our country and the false narrative that they paint about black men (and black people for that matter). Doesn’t society realize that narratives can go several directions and that they often go in a negative direction for the black man? 

At times, my flesh wants to lash out at my Anglo brothers and sisters so that they can hear the narrative that minorities have about them. But of course, that negative narrative would probably not be any more true of most Anglos in the same way that it’s not true of the majority of Blacks. Or Latinos. Or Asians. Etc. Etc. It is this type of emotional and rash thinking that has caused me to pause, grieve, and process my experience through the lens of the Bible and the people of God. In response, I have been amazed by the power and influence that distress and trauma have upon the human soul. Just today, as I was reading Isaiah 9, I looked at the use of the term “darkness” in that passage. The word is not in reference to physical darkness, or even spiritual darkness, but more so to emotional darkness as a result of intense distress. It is a distress that Judah and Israel were about to face with the attacks of Syria and Babylon. In a similar way, as I have been trying to work through the emotions of the past couple of months, I have found that the “distress” of these two cases, on top of COVID-19, has created a veil of emotional and spiritual darkness in my life. The pain and sorrow of the heart and mind make sealing oneself from God and others very tempting. Instead of coming to God with all of my emotions, I am finding that I tend to cut myself off from God. Instead, I construct a vault which I think will protect me from the pain that He and others may cause. Instead of being perceived as a God of comfort, He becomes a presence to be avoided or feared. 

Without a doubt, these experiences show me that I can err in not trusting anyone, including my own church family or God. The only thing that I really trust in those moments is myself and my tendency to anesthetize myself with something… anything. However, as one may surmise, this closing off of oneself to God and others quickly becomes the devil’s playground. One is left in isolation with one’s own fallen thinking, emotions, and the world’s broken views on what is the cause and solution of the tragedies of our society. This, my friends, is a breeding ground for misinformation, misinterpretation, and misguided ethics. This is the realm where many people of color live, both Christian and non-Christian alike; they’re trying to save themselves from the trauma, fear, and anxiety of racism and other prejudices. And unfortunately, most of us live in this psychological space alone, unable to share our pain with the majority culture for fear of having our experiences minimized or delegitimized. Many are left in a fog of shame for what we have experienced, and most certainly for how we have been told to interpret them. With no place to go with these traumas, heartaches, fears, anxieties, and wounds, we begin to escape into resentment, anger, rage, suspicion, defensiveness, isolation into our cultural ghettos, code-switching, and self-diminishment of the Image of God we’re created in… just so we can fit into the majority culture. 

Therefore, we find ourselves in a prison of deep woundedness and self-limitation due to our trauma and our own false beliefs about our worth as fellow image-bearers of God. Why do I share this bleak and momentary picture with you? For sure, it is not a complete picture of the African-American experience. But it is a close approximation of where many black Americans are living mentally, socially, relationally, and emotionally. I share this to give everyone at Ponce Church an idea of what many in the black and minority communities of our city are trying to overcome. As I have tried to think of biblical parallels to our current scenario, the ones closest to this description all reflect the theme of oppression; in particular, of God’s people going through the repentant and restorative process of recovering from the effects of their physical and spiritual captivity.1 With these various narratives in view, a few questions came to mind: How would a fellow traveler come alongside an oppressed person to help them? What would one say? What would one do? These are a few of the questions I hope we can delve into together as we seek to understand how the Gospel informs how we engage those who are working through their past and ongoing oppression. 

All this to say, though the confusion is profound for a lot of us, including me, Jesus is GOOD. He is the Man of sorrows (Isaiah 53), one we can relate to in the midst of everything going on. “… A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice (Isaiah 42). Stay tuned… 

1. Exodus 2-3, 12-34; Deuteronomy, Joshua; Judges; Ezra; Nehemia; the Gospels, and the 1 Epistles—These each reflect the various captivities: Egypt, Babylon/Persia, Rome, and ultimately our slavery to sin and the evil one.

Welcome to Good Friday

Good Friday is the mourning before celebration. Today is a funeral. Someone died. Jesus the Christ was brought before Pilate to be judged based on crimes against the empire. That is the tone of good Friday. It was long and full of sorrow. Before we proceed, let us meditate on the dark narrative of this good day. Do not rush. Think of Christ and his dedication to you that lead him to the cross.

Take a few moments to still your heart before walking through this devotional. 

I silence my voice that you might speak;

I quiet my thoughts that you might think within;

I set the gaze of my heart upon you; 

Help me do this, by your Spirit.

Why are we here? In Gods dark providence, he thought it good to crush the messiah. We are here because we are like Peter. Jesus tells Peter that he will disown him three times. Peter rebukes God and says, “even if I have to die with you I will never disown you”. Peter was humbled in his denial. We to must be emptied of pride. Ask God to do so.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting!

From Genesis to the cross, the church denied the Lordship of God. We have asked for kings, worshiped idols, and have built Babylons. We want to be God of our own lives. For this reason, Christ died. He made a covenant to His family in Genesis and he submitted Himself for his family. He suffered false accusations from the very people he came to save.

Pilate said to them, “then what I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, ‘Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

There is suffering when plans and positions are given priority over people. We are dehumanized by those who use and discard us to suit their needs. Jesus did not wash his hands of us and leave is with our own problems. He took them wholly upon himself. Use a pen to trace your own hand over the text. Think and pray about the Scripture passages and reflection questions. Write your prayer, or just a word or two, inside the hand of the outline. Attach your paper to the wall with other people’s tracings .

Power is an interesting thing. We crave but at the same time we are scared of it. Those who have power can do anything they please. That truth attracts us to people who use it for our good. Christ, from his abduction in the garden to the cross still held all of the power. He was in control of the situation. But Christ submitted himself and denied himself the privilege of escape. For the joy set before him He endured. Christ submitted himself to destruction for you and for me.

 27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. [1]

Jesus is the faithful one. Think about it. The plan from the beginning of time was for you to be sent to die for your people. All the while you are watching your people rebel and run from you. Wrath is being stacked up against them and you know that at the perfect time that very wrath will stacked on you. You stand an unfair trial, you are mocked, beaten, and sentenced to tortuous death. All of this without flinching. Christ was faithful unto death for you.

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” j When he had said this, he breathed his last.[2]

Take some time to confess to Jesus the ways that sin has separated you from him or has taken hold in your life. Know that Jesus meets you in that darkness and guides you out. Remember he knows you completely and is faithful to forgive.

My trespasses are multiplied before You,

And my spirit testifies against me.

For my transgressions are with me,

And I know my iniquities:

Transgressing and lying against the Lord

And departing from my God,

Speaking oppression and revolt,

Uttering Lies my heart has conceived.

Our God is in the ground. His followers have fled in a state of mourning. But one man, Joseph of Arimathea, went to claim the body of Christ. Gods sovereign hand was finishing his plan. Jesus time and time again proclaimed that “on the third day, I will rise”. Even though our God is in the ground we wait with expectation for Sunday. 

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Were you there when God raised him from the tomb? Were you there when God raised him from the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?

For a moment, grieve that it was our sin that put him there. 

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.[3] 

Before Christ went to the cross, he prayed. He prayed for us. He prayed that the love of the Father would be in us and that he would be in us. He gave us his peace. He gave us His assurance. That even though the darkness seemed to win, it did not. He reminded us that for a moment all will seem lost. But he encourages us to look through the veil into the calm face of God and not be troubled for soon all will be well. 

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” [4] 

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. [5] 

As we finish, enter into a time of praise and worship. Listen to the words and reflect on the faithfulness of Christ.

[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 27:27–31). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 23:44–46). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 27:57–60). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 17:25–26). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 14:27). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Joining with Jesus in Embracing the Dark

From the very beginning of our existence, we all have been keenly aware of our neediness and dependence. Our cries for nourishment, comfort, protection, and so much more set us on the path of intuitively knowing that we are both venerable and susceptible to things outside of ourselves. In short, we are aware that death and decay are never far away. Thus begins our journey of seeking to avoid all things painful, decaying, or dying so that we can stay amongst the living. Unfortunately, our human attempts to save ourselves from these dark experiences has only added fuel to the fire of decay and death. In many respects, our attempts have only exacerbated a sense of our impending doom. The story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 perfectly illustrates this dynamic.

Having been excommunicated with their parents from God’s presence in the garden of Eden, these brothers are having to do the hard work of surviving apart from the presence of God and with the ever-present effects of the Fall. As such, when Cain felt slighted by God, though it was actually Cain who presented an inadequate sacrifice, he was willing to sacrifice the life of his brother Abel so that he might be left with Abel’s brother’s blessings. Though the text does not give us much insight into Cain’s motives, a reasonable explanation could be that Cain attempted to save himself by taking out his brother—it was ultimately an act to preserve his physical and spiritual life. How? Well, if God was not pleased with his offering, then it would mean that Cain is entirely on his own to stay alive. However, instead of Cain preserving his own life, the ‘blood of his brother was crying out’ from the soil, condemning Cain for his murder of Abel. But the effects reached even farther: his parents grieved beyond belief and Cain’s act continued to sow seeds of mistrust among the inhabitants of the earth. Despite Cain’s best efforts to save himself, his efforts to keep death and decay at bay has only caused it to grow ever-faster. So it is often with us as well.

By recognizing the futility of fighting death and darkness, both within and without ourselves, we are forced to grapple with what can bring life out of death. Who can conquer our fears of death and decay, including our passions to avoid them ? What would the path to victory over death even look like? How can we experience the blessing of having ‘the sting of death’ removed from our body and souls? These questions are paramount to our ability to live joyous, hopeful, peaceful, and loving lives, for without adequate answers the acts of Cain are not only inevitable but are the logical outworking of a life without hope and meaning as the result of death. Considering only One has ever adequately answered these questions in both Word and deed, it only makes sense that we enter into a season of reflection surrounding the passion of Our Lord Jesus—our only hope out of the darkness of death.

As you prepare to follow Christ to the Cross at our Good Friday services, take some time to meditate upon this triumphant journey that Christ took to give us the victory. (Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 18-19). As you reflect and pray through the various passages related to His passion, which he undertook on your behalf, realize that there is no death and no darkness that the Lord has not seen or experienced. He has conquered all so that He may be united to you! Relish in the grace and love of our God expressed through His Son Jesus! May this Good Friday serve to massage ever deeper into your soul the depth of God’s love for you.

Setting Up Ezra + Nehemiah

As we move further into the Book of Ezra, and several of our ladies are also in the Nehemiah Bible study, a few of you reached out for a better understanding of the historical context of these two closely related books. Therefore, I want to use this brief post to help orient you.

First, the people of Judah are in a state of political and geographical exile. Due to their unfaithfulness to God, and after various warnings from the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, the majority of the Kingdom of Judah was attacked and carried into captivity by the Babylonians under the leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar. The process of exile happened in various phases and is detailed in 2 Kings 24-25. As a result, spiritually speaking, the exiles from the Kingdom of Judah are a people under the control of foreign gods in Babylon; they are separated from the presence, rule, reign, and blessings of the God of Israel. Due to their exile, the land of Judah/Canaan will undergo a 70 year period of Sabbath Rest, which has symbolic significance as it relates to the concept of redemption.

Second, the Babylonians were conquered by the Medo-Persian empire, shifting Judah’s captors from Babylon to Persia. This reality is described in Daniel 5-6:5. Judah’s remaining time in the Persian empire is described in the remainder of the Book of Daniel and in the books of Esther and Nehemiah. ‘The events in Ezra-Nehemiah take place from the beginning of the Persian Empire with the conquest of Cyrus the Great over Babylonia through the reigns of the Persian emperors Darius and Artaxerxes.’1

Third, King Cyrus, the king of the Persian empire, ‘freed the peoples who had been taken into exile in Babylonia and allowed them to keep their customs and religious identities. As a political and military leader, he was concerned about the stability of his empire, loyalty from subject peoples, and economic resources.’2 This reality, and the sovereign plan of God, is what informed his decision to encourage the people of Judah to return to Judah to rebuild the House of God and to give them all the resources needed to accomplish that task. In fact, as Isaiah prophesied in chapter 44, verse 28, the Persian King Cyrus had sent exiles led by Zerubbabel back to Jerusalem in 538 b.c. (Persia had defeated Babylon in 539.)

Fourth, ‘the people of Judah who returned from exile in Babylonia went to the westernmost outpost of the Persian Empire, an area bordering Egypt, Phoenicia, and Cyprus, to establish a community with limited autonomy but loyal to Persia. Accordingly, the people of Judah were subject to the Persian authorities and were heavily taxed. Judah was part of the province called Beyond the River, the Persian satrapy to the west of the Euphrates River that included Samaria and Judah.’ 3 This event showed forth the faithfulness of God to discipline, humble, and ultimately restore His people in light of His everlasting covenant that He made with their father Abraham. (Gen.12:1-3; chapters 15-17 & Leviticus 26:27-39) In particular, considering the Leviticus 26 passage, this restoration of Judah is symbolic of a ‘second planting’ of God’s seed, following a period of allowing His field to lay fallow for 70 years. (Some scholars refer to this as a ‘second exodus’, a starting over from the previous generation of God’s people who came out of captivity from Egypt.)4

Fifth, and finally, the period of Ezra-Nehemiah & the ‘Egyptian Captivity’ serves to demonstrate a primary point:

That God Graciously & Sovereignly works in impossible scenarios to return His people to His Place (Temple/Land), under His rule and blessing.

There can be periods when it seems like the kingdoms of the world are winning, whether personally, corporately, or geo-politically. But as we consider Ezra-Nehemiah, God shows us that He is sovereign over both the nations and our salvation.

1. Noss, P.A., & Thomas, K. J. (2005). A Handbook on Ezra and Nehemiah. (P. Clarke, S. Brown, L. Dorn, & D. Slager, Eds.) (p. 10). New York: United Bible Societies.

2. Ibid., p. 11

3. Ibid., p. 11

4. Breneman, M. (1993). Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed., Vol. 10, pp. 50–51). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

#ULTIMATE: Sacraments, Signs for our Search

Sacraments? What is a sacrament? And most importantly, why do the sacraments matter? The Westminster shorter catechism says a sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, the promises of the new covenant are represented, sealed and applied to all believers.

Let me put it in an illustration that may help. When I was in 9th grade I played basketball for my school. Lots of guys wanted access to the coaches and an all-access pass to the basketball equipment. Lots of guys wanted to be able to get into the gym during the school lunch hour to shoot and practice. Here’s the deal, you needed a sign to represent that you were one of the 12 guys on the team; that sign was the jersey. The jersey was the symbol we used to discern between who was not on the team and who had all the privileges on being on that team.

The sacraments are the jerseys for the believers. Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” The sign of water, bread, and wine are the signs Christ has instituted for us. In Matthew 4 and 26, Jesus institutes these sacraments.

Think about it? What do we all need? We all need a bath and we all need to eat and drink! It doesn’t matter what your ethnic, economic, political, or gender identity is, we all need these things. Jesus, when he institutes, only two, baptism and the Lord’s supper, he is intentionally discipling us by giving these sacraments as a reminder of the promise of Him and the privileges we have as believers.

Why do the sacraments matter? The sacraments matter because they are only effective by our faith in the person and work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in them. When we have a baptism, or when we come to the table and believe we can receive these things by our performance or work, then, we miss out on the sacraments and believe a false gospel. The true, Christ-centered gospel, should point us away from ourselves and more and more towards God’s graciousness, steadfast love and provision for His children. The sacraments matter because they point us to grace! May the grace of God point us to Jesus and the privileges we have as co-heirs with Him, as we have the privilege to participate in the sacraments on a weekly basis.

The sacraments also matter because they are not instituted individually. Jesus wasn’t alone when he instituted these sacraments; he was with the family of God. The sacraments matter too because it takes us to our need for community. You were created for community and the sacraments bring us into a communal call for the children of God. We worship God together and the sacraments are an element in worship that we do together to draw us to Christ and the grace of God.

The sacraments matter missionally too. When we participate in these sacraments it moves us towards those who have not submitted to God and trust in the work of Christ. Missionally-focused-sacrament-partakers makes us love and welcome those who don’t know God. I don’t want my neighbor to go hungry, thirsty, or without a bath, right? In Matthew 25 Jesus says when we feed and give the needy a drink, we feed and drink our Savior. We are truly understanding the sacraments, when we have a heart for our neighbors and living missionally for our community and city. The sacraments give us a reminder too that it’s not on us to save our non-believing friends and neighbors; it is only through the Holy Spirit and the work of Christ, and faith in Him alone that saves!

May we be a church that looks up to the love of God and the power of the Spirit and look across to our neighbors because we are a sacramental community! #ULTIMATE

Worship and the Word

Scripture teaches us many things about how to worship, where to worship, when to worship and why to worship. However, I would argue that the most important thing it teaches us is Who we worship. Psalm 29:2 says “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” What are some ways we can practically use the Word to worship the Hero of the Bible?

Read. In order to know God, you have to know what He says. Psalm 119:7 “I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.” Setting aside time to hear what God is saying to us is key to our worship. The more we learn what He says, who He is and what He desires, the better we can worship.

Ruminate. This word means literally to “chew the cud.” Scripture teaches us we need to think over and meditate on the Word. Psalm 119:48 says “I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.” After reading through passages, we can meditate on them as we go throughout our day.

Respond. How can we respond to what we have read and mediated? First, we can pray it back to Him. The Psalms are filled with examples of psalmists reminding God of His words and past faithfulness. Next, we can share it with others. Psalm 105:1-2 says, “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.” Finally, we can sing it back to him. We will spend eternity singing our praise back to Jesus for who He is and what He’s done. Revelation tells us that Heaven will be about worshipping the One scripture points us to.

“8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’who was, and is, and is to come.” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
It’s all about Him.

I will close with an excerpt of something I wrote in college. An eye-opening moment where I realized that I was created to worship. And who it was I worshiped.

“Have you ever noticed that when a large group of people sing, suddenly it becomes beautiful. It’s one voice in a wonderful tone that doesn’t require perfect pitch or even a well-trained voice…it simply blends to make something fantastic. As I listened to this song I wondered, “is that how God hears it?”   Sometimes I imagine He only hears one massive, collective, and beautiful voice of all His saints that, though they are all around the globe singing in hundreds of different languages and thousands of different songs, they come together in perfect harmony of His praise.Now all I want to do is listen and sing to the Lord. I feel as though tonight I caught a glimpse of Heaven. The true Heaven where one day, with one voice we will live in constant praise of our Lord. He is who we worship. He is everything.

The Role of God and Spiritual Disciplines in Transformation

Megachurch pastor, Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Church, shares a beautiful metaphor for the nature of how change happens in the life of the church and individuals.  In the opening chapter, he shares the process that a good surfer goes through to be able to have a good day on the waves; needless to say, there is a lot of preparation that goes into such a quick and short ride.  Factors such as right board size, waxing of the board, weather reports, shark reports, knowing one’s skill level and much more need to be factored into the day.  Even so, there is one dynamic that not even the best surfers in the world cannot control:  ‘WHEN’ OR ‘IF’ THE WAVES COME! The only thing they CAN do is prepare for its arrival; and when it does, surf.  In much the same, Foster, and others like him (Dallas Willard, Kent Hughes, the Desert Fathers, etc.), are encouraging the body of Christ to put themselves in a place where they can catch the wave of the Spirit’s movement in their lives and churches.  

As we at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church begin our journey of reading Richard F. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline together, I am reminded of one of the key principles of my reformed faith; namely, that all change that occurs in the human psyche, soul, and will for the glory of God is a result of what God is doing by His Spirit.  God is sovereign over all things, including my transformation.  While stating that truth, I realize that it smacks up against our western or human confidence to be able to be in control of ourselves and destiny.  A proclamation of ‘God’s sovereignty’ begs the question, ‘what about man’s role or responsibility?’ Are there things that we can do to be prepared or in a position where the Spirit’s movement will be greeted by receptive hearts?  

Chapter 1 of CoD lays out perfectly, in my humble opinion, not only a reformed view of the mechanical components of this sanctification process, but much of historical Christianity throughout the centuries.  

This basic position states that God moves within time to affect the hearts and minds of people to turn from their rebellion and to depend upon the redemptive work of Jesus Christ via His life, death, and resurrection. 

As a result, coming into this relationship with Christ one quickly learns that it is a connection initiated by God the Father, secured by Jesus His Son, and sealed by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Upon the completion of this relational transaction, the nature of this connection continues in the same vain; the believer continues to be in a state of dependence upon the Triune God to bring about our spiritual growth.  This is a truth that both Jesus and Paul state repeatedly in the bible:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.                                             John 15:5

and then in Paul:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.                         I Corinthians 3:5-7

And yet, despite these clear descriptions, we also read of the role of individual responsibility to pursue ongoing dependence and obedience:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.                             Philippians 2:12-13  

So as we begin this journey of learning about and implementing the means of grace given to the church throughout the centuries, let us keep a few of these principles in mind.  

1. We need to do so with measured expectations.  Making use of these spiritual disciplines are not a magic pill or a rabbit’s foot; they merely put us in a place where we can wait on the lord to do whatever it is He chooses to do both in and through us.  
2. Two, and of paramount importance, is that we all keep in mind that the Word of God is the ultimate authority for the Christian life.  Whatever the Lord impresses upon us through these practices needs to be siphoned through His Word.  As our confession states, ‘the Word of God is our only rule of faith and practice.’  With these few caveats in mind, by God’s grace, may we all catch some ‘killer waves’ of the Spirit this summer.