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Tag: unity

Let Us Not Miss the Day

January 20, 2021 /

Dear Friends,

Twelve years ago, our nation swore in its 44th President, Barack Obama. On that day I said it was a day to celebrate. While many of us had significant philosophical differences with President Obama I believed we could celebrate on this day that our nation’s first African American was ascending to the office of the presidency. An incredible thing only fifty years from the civil rights movement and 150 years from the legal end to slavery in our country.

Today is another historical day for our country. On this day, Kamala Harris will recite the oath of office to become the Vice-President of the United States. The first time, a woman has said these words. Again, many have very significant philosophical differences with her, but in the midst of it, we must not miss the significance and opportunity of this day. One hundred years ago women gained the right to vote in our country. Today, we celebrate with our daughters at the site of a woman reciting the oath. Today we celebrate the opportunities that are available to our daughters that did not exist a few short years ago. Today we are able to participate in witnessing history. 

Yes, our differences still remain. Yes, there will be much vigorous debate about policy and the future of our country, as there should be. Tomorrow, we will take up our debate. Tomorrow, we will return to our divisions. But, today, let us not miss the chance to celebrate history and the hope it means for all of us.

Blessings,
Stephen

Praying for You

December 2, 2014 /

Praying

Dear Friends,

Every so often I will receive e-mails and text messages from individuals telling me they are praying for me. On more than one occasion, I have been on the verge of entering a trying situation, and have received a message from a friend just to say they are praying for me as I tackle the circumstance. Once in a while I have even been known to send such a message to a person to encourage them and let them know I am praying for them in what they are facing.

Did you know it is not just fallible persons who are praying for you, but Jesus is also praying for you? Paul tells us in Romans, that even right now, Jesus is at the right hand of God, praying, interceding for you (8:34). What is Jesus praying? He is praying that we might be one just as he and his Father are one, and that we might be brought to complete unity that the world might know about Jesus (John 17:21, 23). Furthermore, because Jesus is continually praying for you, you can have confidence that nothing will ever separate you from the love of Christ, no trouble, hardship, persecution, famine or nakedness (Romans 8:35). In any circumstance we may face know it will not prevent Jesus from praying for you and can never separate from his love.

And so, hear today Jesus say to you, “I am praying for you.”

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

Living the Dream

January 15, 2012 /

Today would have been Martin Luther King Jr’s 83rd birthday, and on Monday much of our nation will commemorate his legacy.

In response to a published statement made by eight fellow clergymen on April 16, 1963, King penned his much-read open Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I remember studying this letter in high school. It intrigued me so much that I wrote to the Birmingham Public Library to obtain a copy of the letter that had been written by the eight clergymen. Somewhere in my files, I still have the original letter I received in reply. In King’s letter from the jail, he speaks greatly of his disappointment with the church and its failure to speak out against the injustice faced by the black community.

‎”In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love . . . But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.”

Sadly, many of the issues that precipitated the civil rights movement of the 1960s still remain today. Racism, segregation, poverty, limited opportunities, etc. Though not as obvious as a color bar next to a door, the tensions have gone underground and continue to divide our society. They are challenges faced not only by the African American, but also by Somalis, Hispanics, Asians, and Arabs.

In Galatians 3:28, Paul tells us, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Two thousand years later, we still struggle to live the truth of these words. Yet two thousand years later, the church in Christ Jesus remains the greatest hope for true peace and unity in our community.

Stephen

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