I have been mostly silent this week because of a host of things, but events of this week have not gone unnoticed.
As a human being, I am severely saddened that this keeps happening. When the Trayvon Martin case was going on, someone commented on my post and said, "why is this one so important?" How incredibly insensitive of this person. I am a positive person. I love all cultures...I am a black woman with a heart for all of God's people. Yet, I stand before you today and tell you that as a rational person, there is no way that these are "coincidences" or that "he or she must have been doing something wrong." Nothing is going to be solved until we all get real and recognize that having a black president doesn't mean that we have arrived and overcame racism. I am here to tell you that racism is alive and well. Everywhere. We're not making it up. My husband experiences it. I experience it. My children experience it. It is an indisputable fact and no one can tell us differently. I could post daily on some negative, racist issue that occurs, but I choose to not let evil win.
As the wife and mother of black men, I understand the pain that our culture is experiencing. It could have easily been my husband or my sons. I try to continually tell my son that although we (his family and friends) see him as the wonderful human being that he is, there are many in the world that do not. My husband has been stopped countless times...I remember one time he was running with a hoodie on and the police stopped to ask him why he was running in "this" neighborhood. He had no ID on him....He told the policeman that he owned a home not too far away and they let him go....it is only by the grace of God that it didn't end badly. My heart aches for the families of these children. Black people's lives do matter.
As a leader in the body of Christ, I implore that believers remember that we are yet called to be peacemakers and understand that the battle is not ours. God is not to blame for the evil in the world, but He will make all things work for our good. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Does that mean that we all sit and do nothing? Nope. It means that act according to the strategy that He has given us and trust that He is with us. It means actions that would honor Him. It means action that demand justice and unrelenting courage in the face of fear. I do not have the answers, but we are to connect to the one that does. We are to be prisoners of hope, yet realistic that we have a ways to go. I need and charge to the body of Christ to leave their comfortable pews, off their computers arguing over scripture, and get in the street to serve like they are supposed to be. Be the light. For real or go on somewhere and sit down.
Be blessed in and on purpose.
As a human being, I am severely saddened that this keeps happening. When the Trayvon Martin case was going on, someone commented on my post and said, "why is this one so important?" How incredibly insensitive of this person. I am a positive person. I love all cultures...I am a black woman with a heart for all of God's people. Yet, I stand before you today and tell you that as a rational person, there is no way that these are "coincidences" or that "he or she must have been doing something wrong." Nothing is going to be solved until we all get real and recognize that having a black president doesn't mean that we have arrived and overcame racism. I am here to tell you that racism is alive and well. Everywhere. We're not making it up. My husband experiences it. I experience it. My children experience it. It is an indisputable fact and no one can tell us differently. I could post daily on some negative, racist issue that occurs, but I choose to not let evil win.
As the wife and mother of black men, I understand the pain that our culture is experiencing. It could have easily been my husband or my sons. I try to continually tell my son that although we (his family and friends) see him as the wonderful human being that he is, there are many in the world that do not. My husband has been stopped countless times...I remember one time he was running with a hoodie on and the police stopped to ask him why he was running in "this" neighborhood. He had no ID on him....He told the policeman that he owned a home not too far away and they let him go....it is only by the grace of God that it didn't end badly. My heart aches for the families of these children. Black people's lives do matter.
As a leader in the body of Christ, I implore that believers remember that we are yet called to be peacemakers and understand that the battle is not ours. God is not to blame for the evil in the world, but He will make all things work for our good. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Does that mean that we all sit and do nothing? Nope. It means that act according to the strategy that He has given us and trust that He is with us. It means actions that would honor Him. It means action that demand justice and unrelenting courage in the face of fear. I do not have the answers, but we are to connect to the one that does. We are to be prisoners of hope, yet realistic that we have a ways to go. I need and charge to the body of Christ to leave their comfortable pews, off their computers arguing over scripture, and get in the street to serve like they are supposed to be. Be the light. For real or go on somewhere and sit down.
Be blessed in and on purpose.
