Christian audiences always have a unique duty to listen to others with humility and charity.
If you struggle to give the speaker/tweeter a charitable read and the benefit of the doubt...stop following them for now & ask for God’s grace to love your neighbor more.
#TrollingIsSin
Omitted by many churches in the late 1800’s, today we sang the original verse 3 of “O Holy Night”
“Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease”
Just yesterday, I had the great privilege of worshipping with Dr. Katherine Koonce, head of Covenant School. Today, she went to be with the savior she loved while protecting the children she loved.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
🙌🏾😭💔
Black people shouldn’t need to be morally perfect & spotless in order to deserve life & dignity.
Bearing God’s image should be enough......
#GeorgeFloyd
If Christians would simply listen to the cries of their own brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church would be ahead of the national conversation about racial justice instead of behind it.
If Christians would simply listen to the cries of their own brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church would be ahead of the national conversation about racial justice instead of behind it.
You cannot love your neighbor while supporting or accepting systems that crush, exploit, and dehumanize them.
You cannot love your neighbor while accepting less for them and their family than you do for you and your own.
My wife often cautions me against going out at night because she knows that when some people see me out at night, they don’t see a presbyterian pastor or a PhD in systematic theology. All they can see is a threat. 😢
#AhmaudArbery
Forgiveness does NOT mean
I won’t ever talk about it
I won’t seek justice for it
I won’t be horrified by it
I won’t weep over it
I won’t be furious because of it
Forgiveness means
I won’t be enslaved by the never-ending pursuit of getting even
Now that Roe is overturned, I pray that we will provide the access to healthcare, childcare, living wages, education and job opportunities that will support the lives of people in desperate situations.
Omitted by many churches in the late 1800’s, the original verse 3 of “O Holy Night” says
“Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease”
The Bible isn’t preoccupied with teaching men how to be men. The Bible is preoccupied with teaching men how to be kind, humble, just, compassionate, generous, gentle, faithful, and peace-loving.
When my father came to my college graduation, he hugged me tight, kissed me on the face in front of the deans and faculty, and said with a big smile “thank y’all so much for taking care of my baby.”
Real manhood (& womanhood) is about unabashed, unconditional, extravagant love
Y’all...my momma still wears long dresses, pearls, high heels, and church hats for streaming services at the kitchen table on Sunday morning.
Even in a pandemic, the Black Church STAYS sharp. 🙌🏾🙌🏾😂
I’ve occasionally wondered if
@DollyParton
and
@BethMooreLPM
sprang from the same well of awesomeness. I’d pay good money to hear these two have a conversation.
The church is messy...very, very, very messy. But DON’T give up on the church as an institution. Though you should leave an unhealthy local congregation, don’t abandon the assembly of God’s people altogether.
Because this mess is still God’s construction site. 🔨 🚧 🏗
You cannot love your neighbor while supporting or accepting systems that crush, exploit, and dehumanize them.
You cannot love your neighbor while accepting less for them and their family than you do for you and your own.
Statement: We don’t talk about social justice in this church
Response: So you’re saying you care about my soul, but not about my...
Physical well-being
Social Freedom & mobility
Sense of dignity & belonging
Educational & Economic prospects
Culture
History
Life experiences
As we pray & advocate for justice, please pray for the global church. My dear friend Pastor Emmanuel Bileya & his wife Juliana were murdered yesterday by militants while serving in Nigeria. They leave behind 8 precious children & a devastated congregation. “How long O Lord?” 😢😭
*Social* justice isn’t a problem for many conservative evangelicals.
They know precisely how to legislate, protest, raise money, lobby, & even vote around certain social matters, i.e. abortion, religious liberties, & sexuality issues.
*Racial* justice tends to be the hang up.
Christians should NEVER entertain or traffic in xenophobic tropes.
Haitian immigrants are not eating pets.
South American immigrants are not dangerous criminals from insane asylums.
This is the opposite of neighbor love. It makes immigrants the target of hatred and suspicion.
When my father came to my college graduation, he hugged me tight, kissed me on the face in front of the deans and faculty, and said with a big smile “thank y’all so much for taking care of my baby.”
Real manhood (& womanhood) is about unabashed, unconditional, extravagant love
Omitted by many churches in the late 1800’s, the original verse 3of “O Holy Night” is still powerful
“Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is Love and His gospel is Peace
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease”
Forgiveness means “I no longer carry the weight of seeking revenge.”
BUT, I can forgive and still
report a crime
seek justice
seek restitution
seek restoration
lament the devastation
tell the story of hurt & healing
avoid a dangerous person
The Bible isn’t preoccupied with teaching men how to be men. The Bible is preoccupied with teaching men how to be kind, humble, just, compassionate, generous, gentle, faithful, and peace-loving.
Immature: I’m sorry if you were hurt
Mature: I’m sorry I hurt you
Immature: I’m sorry if there was anything that caused you distress
Mature: I’m sorry I caused you legitimate distress by what I did
Immature: I’d like to move on
Mature: I’d like to make things right
I’m tired of seeing black people die senselessly
I’m tired of hearing their murders always explained away
I’m tired of seeing victims of violence tried in the court of public opinion
I’m tired of worrying for my children
I’m tired...
The first step in capturing people’s minds is to delegitimize all other sources of information.
False teachers, cult leaders, and tyrants specialize in framing themselves as the only legitimate source.
In Matthew 25, Jesus describes true converts as being marked by a peculiar empathy toward the poor, marginalized, and incarcerated.
But he describes false coverts as being outwardly religious but marked by a peculiar callousness toward the poor, marginalized, & incarcerated.
Lord, please protect the saints & all image bearers in Ukraine.
Lord, protect the poor, the weak, & the vulnerable
Lord, grant wisdom, compassion, integrity, & restraint to all those in authority. May they be peacemakers rather than warmongers
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
How can God’s people “act justly” if churches never broach justice issues in our society?
How can they “love mercy” if churches refuse to point out the sufferings of our neighbors?
How can they “walk humbly” if we adopt postures of “know it allism” without listening to victims?
Christian liberty is not freedom from inconvenience or the freedom to do whatever I personally want.
Christian liberty is freedom from self-centeredness, freedom from greed, freedom from tribalism, freedom from hedonism.
Christian liberty is the freedom to love my neighbor.
I remember someone marveling about how Jonathan Edwards spent 13 hours a day in his study. I’ve never been comfortable with that as a model.
Sadly, Edwards was only able to spend countless hours working in his study because others spent countless hours working in his fields.
My heart is breaking for churches that have neglected biblical justice for so long, they don’t know what to say to suffering neighbors that desperately need a word from the Lord. 😢💔
I’m weeping at the sight of a multiracial multitude peaceful standing for justice and the dignity of black lives in Nashville, TN.
“Let justice roll down like waters” 🙌🏾🙌🏾
#NashvilleProtests
Forgiveness means “I no longer carry the weight of seeking revenge.”
BUT, I can forgive and still
report a crime
seek justice
seek restitution
seek restoration
lament the devastation
tell the story of hurt & healing
avoid a dangerous person
Our sisters must never be asked to diminish & silence themselves in order to make the men of the church feel more like “spiritual leaders.”
Diminishing women won’t cultivate spiritual maturity among insecure men. It will only make them even more
Immature
Prideful
Self-serving
We will never “personal relationship” our way out of systemic racism. Systemic racism is about the unjust distribution of social, political, & economic power.
All the hugs, handshakes, & high-fives in the world won’t change mass incarceration & racial disparities in healthcare.
With a farm and large household, how did Jonathan Edwards manage to spend 13 hours a day in his study? He did it through slave labor.
Edwards’ theological legacy cannot be separated from his slaveholding because his theological legacy came to us precisely through slaveholding.
Black people shouldn’t need to be morally perfect & spotless in order to deserve life & dignity.
Bearing God’s image should be enough......
#GeorgeFloyd
We should be horrified by the riots, but we should be even more horrified by the suffering, destruction, disparities, and death that led to these riots.
I’ve yet to find the scripture where God’s people are warned about being too focused on justice for the oppressed. But there are plenty that warn us about not being focused enough.
Calling a person of color a “DEI hire” is the 2024 way of suggesting they are inherently undeserving by virtue of being a person of color.
Christians should *never* traffic in dehumanizing beliefs, tropes, and language.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace” Col 4:6a
Christian girls & women should never be asked to diminish themselves in order to make the boys & men around them feel more secure.
We must learn to celebrate and not fear gifted biblically astute sisters. In a world that silences women, we do well to extend their platform.
Complicity says “meet oppression with love but NOT justice”
Retaliation says “meet oppression with justice but NOT love”
Hope says “meet oppression with a love that pursues justice”
Under quarantine, may we remember the scores of domestic abuse survivors, for whom work or school are the only places of relief from the horrors they face at home every single day. 😢💔🙏🏾
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Nathan rebuked David for his abuse of power & greed before mentioning anything about sexual sin.
I’m grateful for the many good resources devoted to helping us resist temptations to sexual sin.
I long for more resources devoted to helping us resist the temptation to abuse power.
However you feel about the individual candidates, it’s deeply significant to have a Woman of Color elected vice president of the United States.
Every social boundary broken expands our collective imagination for what is possible.
2016-17 It was the Social Gospel
2017-18 It was Cultural Marxism
2019-20 It was Critical Race Theory
Don’t worry Bible-Believing Christians, these labels only seem to have about a two year lifespan. By the time you finally understand one label, they may call you something else.
Eli the priest disapproved of his sons’ theft & wicked behavior at Shiloh. He even rebuked them. So why was Eli punished along with his sons?
He “fattened” himself on the spoils of his sons theft. (1Sam 2:29)
When we accept the spoils of injustice, we are complicit in injustice
Despite her departure from the SBC, I believe history will remember
@BethMooreLPM
as one of the most significant Southern Baptist voices from the 21st century.
The precious Asian American woman who was attacked in NY yesterday was *walking to church.* She’s an image bearer and a sister in Christ.
How can we confess being united in Christ without pleading her (and so many other Asian American brothers’ and sisters’) cause?
Whatever happens with Roy Moore, the church must remember that child molestation is a “sanctity of life” and “sanctity of marriage” issue and act accordingly. It must send the message that it cares for 14 year old little girls just as much as unborn little girls.
Haitian evangelical church in Springfield needed three police cars to safely hold services this Sunday. Members are reportedly receiving anonymous phone calls telling them to “go back to your country.”
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” Gal6:2
😢🙏🏾
Any theology that accommodates injustice (through denial, minimization, or support) is more secular than sacred.
The great mark of this sinful age has always been to ask “am I my brothers keeper?” Christ alone gives us the grace to say with our lives “I am my brothers keeper.”
Many pastors won’t condemn racism & injustice against minorities because they’re bound by the limitations of conservative evangelical anxiety.
Pastor, don’t leave God’s people in the bondage of fear, lead them into the freedom of love.
We all just watched a physical assault play out right before our very eyes. And the person who did it was comforted as if he were the victim and talked about it as though it were an act of love. We have to denormalize violence as a response to feeling disrespected.
We are never going to personal relationship our way out of police brutality.
We also need sweeping systemic change, to “establish justice in the gate of the city.” (Amos 5:15)
I’ve always found it fascinating that “sanctity of life” Sunday falls on the day before MLK day. Many churches find themselves choosing which moral issues they will address, racial issue or abortion issues. We are blessed when we honor the sanctity of all lives from womb to tomb.
Love the unborn?
1. Support better access to (prenatal and postnatal) healthcare, childcare, education, career training and opportunities, & equal wages for their mothers.
2. Reduce the racialized stress that puts women and infants of color disproportionately at risk of dying
If I had to choose a mess, I’d MUCH rather join a local church that’s a little messy on ecclesiology than one that’s messy on human dignity, justice, and love.
#priorities
A few hurtful things people say about slaveholders.
1. They were men of their times
2. They were kind to enslaved people
3. They were theologically "sound"
4. Their theological contributions outweigh their moral flaws
5. Slaveholding was a minor part of their total lives
My precious sisters in Christ
It’s ok to say no to a man
It’s ok to say no to a man
It’s ok to say no to a man
It’s ok to say no to a man
It’s ok to say no to a man
It’s ok to say no to a man
It’s ok to say no to a man
The only man to whom you must always say “yes” is Jesus.
Happy “that’s not what he meant” Day!
Here’s a primer on spotting misuses of MLK’s life & legacy today.
You know they’re misusing MLK when they
1. Promote peace and unity at the expense of justice.
Dr. King pointed out that any peace not founded on justice is a false peace
If we won’t tell the truth about earthly things people can see, how can they trust us to tell the truth about heavenly things they can’t see?
Disinformation and baseless conspiracies are Christian witness issues.
Lord, behind every confederate and alt-right avatar is a deeply anxious image bearer,
too afraid to be known,
too afraid to be kind,
too afraid to come into the light.
Would you grant them the courage of faith, hope, and love?
Only your compassion can restore theirs.
Amen
John Laurens was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War, best known for his criticism of slavery and his efforts to help recruit slaves to fight for their freedom as U.S. soldiers.
John Laurens: A Man of His Times