It would seem to me that, even in 1998, we as Christians should be one church. However, it is obvious not only to me as a member of the body of Christ, but also to the children of the world, that we are coming up short in the Christian community.
“…those who still perceive a white Christ must ask whether they can and will worship a dark-skinned Jesus.” (Christena Cleveland | Columnist | March 18, 2016).
One problem we have to face in the church today is that we do not know, or at least we are unwilling to find out, just who the true players of this religious game are. With the increase of hatred and bigotry throughout our so called Christian society, we owe it to ourselves to launch an investigation into this matter and do it quickly because time is short. The world is hurting as they grope for answers to their every day problems. Society, white society, as we know it, is feeling threatened by today’s prospering black communities. It would even seem that the “white church” also has its own vexation when it comes to embracing a thriving black Christian community.
The church is shunning the issue of race relations in today’s sanctimonious society. The church is not assertive in pursuing the answer to the distress we are facing do to the stench of prejudice. Prejudice has under minded the church’s efforts in evangelism in the 1990’s. There are scores of people who make a profession of faith, however, the number of true conversions are just not there, in spite of mass evangelistic efforts that are made each year. As the soon return of Jesus, our Lord and Savior approaches, we who are true believers must live the truth. It is time for the church to demonstrate to the world that we are the united body of Christ that we so boldly proclaim to be. The gospel should and must be declared as our eyes and hearts are toward heaven, not as we blindly and selfishly seek after the things of this world.
The one thing in this earth that has the ability to bring about perpetual change to our morally decayed and malignant society is the TRUTH. However, truth alone will not convert the world. Therefore, if truth is to have meaning, it must be depicted to the world in LOVE. In other words, we must have true concern and compassion for those to whom we preach.
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” (1John 4:7-11).
We should ask ourselves, why is it that the Leaders of our Church can not come together as one for the purpose of carrying out the will of God? Is it so difficult to see a body of believers being lead by men who have absolutely given themselves to one another as well as to the Father and the Son? May we come with repentant hearts, laying down all selfish ambition and pride at the feet of Christ our Lord, the only one who deserves and has preeminence in all things.
What is it going to take in order for those who claim to be Church leadership to come together? Will we continue to pretend that all is well with the churches that we have been given charge over? May God open our eyes so that we might finally see that it has been we who call ourselves apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers who have fallen short of the will of God and are responsible for what the church has become in our generation.
“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-15).
Minority white’ in 2045
The US will become ‘minority white’ in 2045, Census projects
Youthful minorities are the engine of future growth
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels
WHY JESUS’ SKIN COLOR MATTERS
”In order to follow Jesus in his mission today, we often must choose a love that is based in solidarity. Many well-meaning Christians minister across a social gap, but whites can minister to people of color without truly seeing them as equals, and higher-income people can serve lower-income people while knowing little about their daily lives. Jesus’ ethnic identity and social location require that we must not only minister to people who are marginalized, we must stand with them as Jesus stands with them.
This involves seeing non-European cultural perspectives and customs as valid and valuable, listening to people who are marginalized, and demonstrating with our words and actions that both spiritual and social liberation are central to the gospel.
But first, those who still perceive a white Christ must ask whether they can and will worship a dark-skinned Jesus.”
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
Jamie Thompson 