June 17
Somehow we have been deceived into thinking that loving our brothers and sisters of a different ethnicity, political party, socioeconomic class, or gender is optional. Loving and living in unity is not optional. Reconciliation is intrinsic to the gospel of our King (Gray, Derwin “How to Heal Our Racial Divide” pg 41)
Day 114 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Click here for updates in Ukraine. Click on this story about two American Veterans who joined the fight in Ukraine. Please keep them in their prayers as they have gone missing during this conflict.
Today I want to focus on our summer reading: “How to Heal Our Racial Divide,” by Dr. Derwin Gray. This week, we have been looking at Chapter 2, in which Dr. Gray discusses how God promised Abraham a multi-ethnic family that would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Dr. Gray gives his readers a great acronym to help remember how God promised Abraham LIFE (Life, Inheritance, Family, Expression). Dr. Gray demonstrates, through his writing, that “life in Christ raises us from spiritual death” and opens the pathway to enable us to live in the presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The “inheritance” of God’s family is promised to all of us who proclaim their faith in Jesus. As children of God, we are promised to inherit “a glorious future” and have mansions waiting for us in Heaven. The Family aspect of Dr. Gray’s acronym is for us to remember we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are LOVING siblings, not squabbling, divisive family members. As Dr. Gray wrote in the words above, loving our brothers and sisters is not an option. It is our mission. Finally, Dr. Gray writes how we should “express our allegiance to Jesus”: in Christ our ethnic differences are celebrated; in Christ our socioeconomic differences are a pathway to education and cooperation; in Christ, our sexual differences are embraced and complement one another. Dr. Gray closes this chapter out with these beautiful words below:
“When Abraham’s family is unified in the person of Jesus, we become a portrait of the new world that Jesus unveiled at his resurrection. God’s new world is a multiethnic, reconciled world of love, unity, and oneness.” (Gray, Derwin, “How To Heal Our Racial Divide” pg 43)
This weekend marks the first year of Federally recognized celebrations of Juneteenth, the historic day when all African-Americans were finally set free in America. No matter what your skin color is, this is a beautiful holiday to celebrate because it marks the end of the sin of slavery in this country (at least in the form of culturally accepted enslavement for profit and free labor). So get out this weekend and help celebrate Juneteenth and show the enemy what a multiethnic, colorful, loving family of Christ looks like!
Mr. Tauren Wells released a new album last Friday. Click here to listen to it. He continues to put out fun, energetic tracks mixed with slower calls of worship and love. Click on the image below to hear my favorite song off this new collection.
Common Sense Reborn 