3 lessons of revolutionary love in a time of rage | Valarie Kaur

Love is the only way that the world will change. Embracing revolutionary love, as sister Valerie Kaur describes, requires work and sacrifice. This is a powerful expression of how we can love like Jesus loved in the lips of a Sikh sister. Love is the only thing that will make the world a better place. Listen and share.

Journeys in Faith Podcast - Episode 10- On Sanctification as Dikaioma

Journeys In Faith - Episode 1 - YouTube

Just wanted to share with you a Podcast we have started to explore the intersection between Scripture and Theology/History and Ethics/Spirituality and action. Hope you enjoy our Journies in Faith, this is going to air once a week, so we pray that God may speak to you through it.

(310) Journeys In Faith - Episode 1 - YouTube

Louisiana’s habitual offender law is cruel and unjust | The Christian Century

A great and timely article for our day. Another powerful exposition of how the criminal "justice" system is being used to maintain black and poor communities oppressed, marginalized, and segregated. Read and share.

Louisiana’s habitual offender law is cruel and unjust | The Christian Century

Christians Against Christian Nationalism Statement — Christians Against Christian Nationalism

I would like to encourage you to join me in signing to this statement against Christian Nationalism. I believe that the last paragraph of the statement capture why this is important to me as a Christian and a Pastor.

• Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no second-class faiths. All are equal under the U.S. Constitution. As Christians, we must speak in one voice condemning Christian nationalism as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to American democracy. 

Christians Against Christian Nationalism Statement — Christians Against Christian Nationalism

A Tribute to Congressman John Lewis, a brother with a legacy

     The Scripture says: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mat. 5:48). This is a passage that inspires and guides the meaning of holy living in the teaching of Jesus. Those who are called to follow Jesus are certainly called to a life of holiness. However, in the Christian Church we have turned holiness into something so unattainable that it is as if God really does not want us to live in holiness. For some believers, it is as if this is what God desires but it is not something that can be achieved in life.
     Certainly, we cannot achieve perfection in this life, but according to Jesus, we can certainly live a holy life. How, you may ask? Well, I am glad you ask. When we explore Jesus’ words in Matthew we get the first clue as to what it means to live a sanctified, holy life. In chapter 5 of Matthew Jesus tells us that to be like God, the Father, we must love like God loves. So Jesus describes for his audience how it is that God loves:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ [This must sound very familiar because it is what we hear all the time in our culture] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [Here we start to break with the values of the dominant culture] so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. [God treats the righteous and the unrighteous people in this world with the same care, mercy, justice, and compassion] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? [Jesus uses the worst sinners in Jewish religious culture to illustrate that if we treat our friends well we are not better than the tax collectors and gentiles. We have a higher calling] (43-47).

     This call of Jesus reminded me of the story of a Congressman who, although not perfect, sought to live a life of holiness. Congressman John Lewis was not only a public servant but he came to serve in public office out of his sense of service to his Lord and to God’s people. Clearly, he is not the only one but he helps us illustrate the point.
     Lewis was an ordained Baptist minister who graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. Later he received a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University. In 1955, Lewis first heard Martin Luther King Jr. (another servant of God) on the radio, and he closely followed King's Montgomery bus boycott later that year. At age 15, Lewis preached his first public sermon. Lewis met Rosa Parks (another woman of faith) when he was 17, and met King for the first time when he was 18.
     While a student, Lewis was invited to Clark Memorial United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN, where the Rev. James Lawson (a United Methodist Minister) and the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith (a Baptist Minister) were teaching about the power of nonviolence resistance, as a strategy that will transform the Civil Rights struggle of the 60’s. There, Lewis and other students, out of their sense of call would utilize nonviolence resistance as a way to demand equality and justice for our black brothers and sisters, and other oppressed communities in the USA. He practiced this method for the rest of his life.
     As a Christian, he advocated for the civil and human rights of all people, especially African Americans. His faith led him to organize sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and took part in many other activities pursuing civil rights for all as part of the Nashville Student Movement. Because of his faith, these sit-ins in Nashville were responsible for the desegregation of lunch counters in downtown Nashville. His actions caused him to be arrested and jailed many times (as Jesus mentioned at the beginning of the sermon it would happen when people followed him – see Matthew 5:3-12).  He was also instrumental in organizing bus boycotts and other nonviolent protests in the fight for voter and racial equality, feats which today we celebrate as part of our heritage as a great country.
     Congressman Lewis activism was motivated by his faith, as the Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, a pastor who worked with Lewis, stated. Congressman Lewis said: “The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.”
    Something he did. He was arrested more than 40 times and spent his life advocating for civil and human rights for all people. He was one of the first Freedom Riders and encouraged others to get into “good trouble” in the pursuit of justice. In 2016, he even staged a sit-in on the House floor in an effort to force a vote on gun control. Rev. Girton-Mitchell said:

“For some making ‘good trouble’ meant walking across the bridge in the face of horrifying opposition. His life inspired me [Girton-Mitchell] to become a bridge to help connect people to fight against racism with my body, mind and soul.”

     Congressman Lewis believed that Christians must be engaged in "good trouble, necessary trouble" to achieve changes in support of oppressed and marginalized communities. His words were inspired by the words of that old negro spiritual: “Wade in the Water.”

Wade in the water, wade in the water children
Wade in the water,
God's gonna trouble the water

     When God troubles the waters are we willing to follow along? Are we willing to engage in the “necessary trouble” that is required for freedom to come, for liberation to be achieved for the sake of our fellow human beings?
     Congressman John Lewis was not a perfect man but he was a man who sought to live a holy life wherever he was. For me he was another member of the great cloud of witnesses who testify to God in the way he sought to live his life. He was there when God was troubling the waters, he was there when love was required to make changes in this country to recognize that Black, Brown, and all people’s lives matter. If Black Lives Matter has made it clear is that all lives matter when Black lives Matter because we are one people loved by God. 

The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States - YouTube

Here is a powerful presentation on the truth about the Confederacy in the USA. The North won the war but the South won the peace.

(22) The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States (FULL Version) - YouTube

A conference presented by Jeffery Robinson, the ACLU’s top racial justice expert. He discusses the dark history of Confederate symbols across the country and outlines what we can do to learn from our past and combat systemic racism.



In the same historical vein check the work of James W. Loewen:

"Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong,"

"Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong,"

"Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism."

The Long Battle Over ‘Gone With the Wind’ - The New York Times

The Long Battle Over ‘Gone With the Wind’ - The New York Times

Powerful article on the problems of the iconic movie "Gone with the Wind." Indeed, a movie that becomes a defense of the confederate ideology, and historical inaccuracies of how slavery worked in the South. This in addition to the fact that it presented black people as "happy" under their condition of slavery. Even if there were some black folks who were "happy, (and that is a big "IF") in their slaved condition, it can only be attributed to the system and ideology of white supremacy internalized by enslaved-oppressed people. No one is happy to be treated like garbage by another human being even if they love that human being. Read the article and share it.

Common, John Legend - Glory

Powerful anthem to the Glory of God. The one we have been called to follow by loving those whom God loves. It is an invitation to the realization that we are not alone, that we do not stand alone, that God has never left us alone. For as long as there are others will to sacrifice, our God will walk with us.

Listen and Share.

Coronavirus Could Kill Consumer Christianity

Coronavirus Could Kill Consumer Christianity
I believe the author of this article has it right. Maybe this is a wake-up call to Christians, especially in the American context, to re-think what it means to be the Christians. The author concludes what has been my preaching for years: "...commit to a faith that is costly, inconvenient, and uncomfortable. Discomfort is painful, to be sure, but it is a clarifying gift. The truth is, following Jesus was never meant to be easy (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 14:27). Discipleship was never meant to be consumer-friendly. Church was never meant to be comfortable." Read and share. Enjoy it.

Voices #76: Poverty Amidst Pandemic | A National Day of Prophetic Mourni...

This is a powerful witness to the possibility and the need for a better and more just world. Together we can make a difference. Feel free to share.

Anand Giridharadas: A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they...

This story is really worth sharing. A story of grace, compassion, and mercy, as you have not heard before.