Within the past year I’ve told God I’ll say anything he wants me to say, no matter how scary or counter-cultural, as long as I know it’s from him. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know I write about a lot of (what some might call) “gutsy” things for a pastor such […]
A Lament for Baltimore
Lord, we lament the violence that has broken out in Baltimore. We lament the anger that has been boiling in the black community for centuries. We lament the greed and hate of whites who enslaved blacks in the name of economic prosperity for whites. We lament how whites built the United States on white supremacy. […]
What Growing Up White Taught Me About Race
I’m 32 years old and I grew up white. I was raised in a suburban town of Dayton, OH where nearly everyone was white. The Dayton area follows the pattern of most metropolitan cities in America: urban core made up predominantly of people of color, particularly African-Americans, where the most recorded crime and the worst […]
What does Jesus say about our segregated churches?
If the Old Testament prophets told you that churches in America shouldn’t be segregated along racial lines, would you listen? If Jesus told you churches in America shouldn’t be segregated along racial lines, would you listen? For most of my life, this stuff wasn’t even close to being on my radar and I realize for […]
What does the New Testament Church say about our segregated churches?
Ephesians 2:13-16 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its […]
Are you Racist, Non-Racist or Anti-Racist?
I think most of us identify ourselves as non-racist. Most non-racists are so because racism doesn’t affect them personally. But just because something isn’t in your yard, doesn’t mean it isn’t all over our land. All over the yards of the brothers and sisters in Christ we are called to be in community with. I’d […]