June 13
God has always longed to have a single, worldwide, multinational, multiethnic family of coheirs and equals in Christ, who love him by loving each other. (Gray, Derwin, “How to Heal Our Racial Divide” pg 29)
Day 110 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Click here for updates of the Ukraine crisis. Despite all the horrible happenings in our country, the tragic war in Eastern Europe continues. While our government is bickering and dragging their feet on how to make this country safer for her citizens, on the other side of this precious planet a country that fell 88th in the world for gun ownership per person, has been able to contend with a much larger, much more well-armed military. Ukraine is a current, real-time example that there should be no reason America can not pass reasonable gun legislation, that takes simple actions to keep weapons of war out of the hands of teenagers, and out of the hands of those who suffer from mental illness. You do not need to own multiple AR-15 type rifles to be able to defend yourself, or your country. If you live in such fear right now, when a war really comes to this land, you surely would not be brave and willing enough to defend yourself in the face of such danger.
I hope you have bought your copy of Dr. Derwin Gray’s newest book, “How To Heal Our Racial Divide”. Dr. Gray’s wise words were shared at my home church this past Sunday. In a very insightful sermon about unity, and the mission of the Church, Pastor Marcus Johnson picked a powerful quote by Dr. Gray, to put a metaphorical exclamation point at the end of his message. I am sharing that sermon below. Right now it is the live recording of their 11 AM service. I am not sure how long Compassion Christian keeps their live recordings up, so if you click the image below and it takes you to a YouTube video that is no longer available, use that page to find Compassion’s page and look for the most recent sermon. If the live version is still available, you can jump to minute 21 for when the worship experience starts. There are some beautiful baptisms at minute 32. And the message begins on minute 50.
Before I get to our Song-of-the-Day (which has become my song for the summer), the wonderfully wise Mrs. Z just published a new post over at her blog, which you can read here!
I ran out of time last week to share my current FAVORITE song in Christian music. While the beat alone is a heel-stomping, hand-clapping anthem, the words that echo a joyful heart, it is the music video this team produced that is really powerful. Click on this video below to see what the Christian Church is supposed to look like. Maverick City Music is a purely angelic worship ministry and what they have done in the recording of their upcoming anthem surely has Jesus smiling down upon them. Kirk Franklin and MCM have been blessed and God’s favor will continue to fall on them for many years to come.
Common Sense Reborn 