A Response to the Election in the Words of a Teaching Elder

Below is a letter that was sent to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church by Pastor Rufus Smith of City of Refuge Church in Houston, TX.  It is moving. It is poignant.  It is something that we need hear and consider. 

November 6, 2008

To: My Fellow Followers of “That Way”

From: Rufus Smith, Pastor, City of Refuge Church (Houston, TX)

As Chairman of the EPC’s Urban Ministry Network and the only black senior pastor in the Central South, may I ask you to consider pausing this Sunday or next to openly recognize the historic American election this past Tuesday? The question is not whether you or I voted for President-Elect Obama or not, but the issue is the potential capacity of his election to expedite the erasing of the stain, stigma and stereotype in the collective soul and psyche of an indigenous ethnic group and a nation.

Whether you agree with the election results or not, on Tuesday, something happened in the minds and hearts of a significant percentage of African-Americans in your cities, towns and churches. For many whom we are trying to evangelize and disciple, please acknowledge in some way this political seismic shift, atmospheric meteorite and divinely permitted event (Ps. 75:1-6); to ignore it with silence or inaction would be a setback and a squandered bridge building opportunity. Make a phone call, send a note, visit the office, issue a statement or whatever else the Lord may lead you to do to some African-American pastor or leader in your community.

As a Christian, I am NOT personally distracted from the first task of Glory to God via worship and making disciples of every ethnicity; for I deeply believe that our hope is salvation in Jesus not legislation through jurisprudence. As an American, I am prayerful for my President Elect and push for his success (I Tim. 2:1-5 as I did for President George W. Bush); As a Black American, I am as proud as a prancing horse. I was very somber Wednesday. Quite unusual for me. It seemed surreal. Time stood still as I savored what had just happened in my beloved country. 388 long years after the arrival of the Mayflower, the glass ceiling and, I believe, a national curse had been broken.

My 18year old daughter Rhoda called me at 10:45am on Wednesday in tears. “Dad, she said, you won’t believe the stuff I am seeing and hearing…Please come get me”. I warned her on our drive to school this morning of the backlash some would have today. Several of her classmates are dressed in black today to commemorate the destruction of our country and have hurled insults at her. She has been their classmate for 12 years at this highly esteemed Christian school. My wife Jacqueline went to share an off campus lunch with her, then take her back to school where she belongs to continue her maturation process. I don’t fully blame the kids, but their behavior is indicative of the work we still need to do in our society, even among Christians. We as elders know that the ultimate issue is sin not skin.

I don’t expect those who are not black Americans to share the SAME EUPHORIC INTENSITY of this HISTORIC DAY as I do. They can’t. At stake is how this atmosphere can be a time of bountiful harvest for the LifeGiver King and how it can hasten the probability that inner city churches and multi-racial churches like City of Refuge can become commonplace in our children’s lifetime.

I trust that a sacred and civil dialogue can begin for some and continue for others. This time can be a Kingdom building opening for those of us who name the name of Christ and are Christians first, Americans second, and African-Euro-Asian-Latino, Native Americans third.

No reply necessary.

 

Pastor Smith, I say thank you.

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The Blue Parakeet - A Review

First, Dr. McKnight and Zondervan thank you for the advance copy.

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The Blue Parakeet is a text that discusses how we actually read the Bible. Dr. McKnight brings up two key ideas throughout his short work. His first organizing principle is the concept that the Bible was written in a certain period's time and ways. The second is that we are to read the Bible alongside of tradition as opposed to through it.

Dr. McKnight seeks to challenge some of the assumptions that we have regarding how we read the Bible. He begins with a discussion of his own history where people would "read the Bible and do what it says" even though as he began reading the Bible for himself he realized that they did not do all it says. This then leads to the dominant question that he seeks to answer: how do we read the Bible in our times and our ways?

The book is divided into four parts, "What is the Bible", "What Do I Do with the Bible", How Do I Benefit from the Bible", and "Women in Church Ministries Today". The first section provides Dr. McKnight's organizing principles. The second and third sections discuss the proofs and ramifications for his new hermeneutic. The fourth section provides an application to a particular issue within the Christian church.

Dr. McKnight writes an engaging book. I think that he has provided a useful challenge to the assumptions with which we tend to come to the Bible with. He also provides a wonderful framework for understanding the Bible as story.

Many, no doubt, will struggle with his section on women. I am not sure that he proves his point fully. I would like to see this section developed more in a future work.

In conclusion, I would recommend this text for those who are thinking about how to read and understand the Bible in a post-modern, post-Christendom context. I would caution the reader to read with a critical eye as it easy to get caught up in Dr. McKnight's winsome prose. This will be a text that will be at the center of the conversation for some time to come.

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>It's A Brand New Day

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As much as I like the idea of a clean slate, I know it can't be that way. We are who we are in part because of the trials, mistakes and blunders we've committed and endured.

Posted by Doug Walker on October 15th, 2008

I have a friend who always signs off on his emails with the phrase, "It's a brand new day." Some of you may have heard the line because the artist Sting used it as a title to one his songs. It's got a catchy tune and a nice beat, but I have to admit I don't really understand all of the lyrics. I asked my friend if he used the phrase because he liked the song. He said he didn't listen to Sting. So I pressed him a little further. Why that line? What's wrong with "sincerely" or "see ya" or maybe even "catch you later?" He said he liked "it's a brand new day" because it reminded him that all the junk of yesterday is gone, and today we get to start over with a clean slate. Sounds great in theory, but is it really possible?

I think, in a theological sense, there is some truth to the phrase. After all, First Corinthians says that if we belong to Christ we are new creations. The old is gone and the new has come. Because of Jesus, God no longer remembers our sin, and our record is set right. We have clean hands and a clean heart, and we've been forgiven and set free. Kind of like a brand new day. But can these theological truths really translate into how we live? Is every day brand new? Can I expect a sort of spiritual amnesia each morning, where the glory and wonder of the gospel obliterate any and all memories that involved sin? No clunky baggage or ill will from yesterday? The mishaps and hurts are old news, forgotten, like trash at the curb?

As much as I like the idea of a clean slate, I know it can't be that way. We are who we are in part because of the trials, mistakes and blunders we've committed and endured. We'd love to forget about them, but the carryover effect to the here and now is unavoidable. A loss from a decade ago still makes me weep. A poor decision made a few years ago continues to cause difficulty today. Last week's forgetfulness started a domino effect that still has me apologizing. The stinging words I uttered in yesterday's argument will not stop ringing in my head. Let's face it, even as redeemed, forgiven, new creation Christians, the past still haunts us. We can tell ourselves today is a brand new day, but in a sense it becomes a silly mind over matter game. Kind of like standing outside in January with just shorts and a t-shirt trying to convince yourself it's not cold.

So if the past continues to pop up in the present, how then, to quote Francis Schaeffer, shall we live? I think several stories from Scripture can help us reconcile this idea of a brand new day with the ever present residual effects of the past. Believe it or not, the remedy that the Bible offers is not to forget the past, but to remember it. Time and again, God creates difficulty and pain so that we might remember how He worked, and continues to work today.

In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with God for an entire night. When morning came, Jacob demanded a blessing, but God permanently injures his hip. The blessing was granted, but so was a painful reminder that Jacob had been in the presence of the Lord Himself. Then there's Job, a man who was "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." If anyone deserved a carefree life full of blessing, it was Job. And he had it, for a while, but then God took it all away. The pain and confusion had to be staggering. Sure, Job got it all back; the family, the house, the flocks. But God didn't erase the memory of his hellish experience, and while a new house and new livestock are nice, nothing could ever replace his first family. The apostle Paul was struck blind during his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. While the scales later fell from his eyes at the house on Straight Street, his sight was restored but it was never the same. He also speaks of a "thorn in his flesh" in 2 Corinthians that God never took away, despite his pleading. Perhaps it was his poor eyesight, but maybe it was something else. Regardless, it was a constant and painful reminder that God's grace alone was sufficient for him.

My hunch is that these three men would have gladly accepted a brand new day, where the pain and the trials of yesterday were gone and forgotten. But God chose differently. He wanted them to know that these were significant times in their lives that must not be lost. What they saw as undesirable, God was using to shape and form them. As strange as it seems, their trial was God's training, and God wasn't going to let them forget it.

There's no question that Grace Chapel has seen some trials and difficulties these past few years, and it would be perfectly understandable to want them out of sight and out of mind. My hope is that God would treat us the same way He treated Jacob, Job and Paul. That our pain would not be just a bad memory, but rather a signpost to God's amazing care and provision. You see, when we forget our trials, we also forget God's faithfulness. When we refuse to speak of our failures, we neglect God's mercy and grace. When we ignore the sins of the past, the gospel of Jesus Christ is irrelevant. We must realize that at Grace Chapel, the road to the future runs through the past. While it may indeed be a brand new day, let's remember where we've been and all God has done to make us who we are. In the words of John Newton from Amazing Grace:

Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

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Yes.

Backyard Missionary has nailed it with this post.  We all need to hang out front a little more.

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Where Are You From?

The Hansen Report: Where Are You From? | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.

This article is quality.  I think that the ramifications are huge for a congregation like the one that I am a part of.  We live in a suburban setting and there are tons of church choices.

This reality makes implementing change very difficult.  The reason for this is that instead engaging with the body in the midst of change the "I will go to that other church" card is played.  This also frees people from having to engage with the church when there are deficiencies.

When my wife and I moved back to the Detroit area we decided to choose a church and not shop for a church.  This meant that we never visited a different church.  We came to our church and stayed. No matter what.We believed that any weaknesses in the church were things that God had for us to step into there.

It makes me pretty sad and a little angry when people play the "we'll just go to a different church" card.  If there is a weakness in your church stand in the gap, and be a solution.

This doesn't happen, I think in part, because there has been a loss of catechism and a loss of commitment to the vows made in membership. I think this happens because people seem to think that the grass is greener.  I think this happens because people are unwilling to truly engage with the body of Christ.  I think this happens because in the end people are self-centered and unwilling to die to themselves.

One of my good friends, Jose, says "It's time to Ride and Die", indeed it is.

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Mark Driscoll: 18 ‘obstacles to effective evangelism’

insight - Driscoll: 18 ‘obstacles to effective evangelism’. This article got me thinking about so many things. Some of it isn't applicable in my situation becuase I am not in Australia and the last time the British influenced our country they were getting hineys kicked in the War of 1812 (or we were bailing them out because the Germans were kicking their cans).

All kidding aside, the article has some great points.  I struck particularly by the discussion on movements.  I wonder is our church or our ministry a movement? Are we telling the stories of God?  Or are we telling the stories of when God used to work?

Boy, I will tell you what, at one of the University's that I work on we are seeing a movement come to life and it's fun, scarey, and amazing. I can't control it and yet they cry out for direction.

Where are we?  Where are you?

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In honor of two weeks of political rhetoric...

Thanks Derek...

A Savior on Capitol Hill | [derekwebb.net]

I’m so tired of these mortal men

with their hands on their wallets and their hearts full of sin

scared of their enemies, scared of their friends

and always running for re-election

so come to DC if it be thy will

because we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hill

you can always trust the devil or a politician

to be the devil or a politician

but beyond that friends you’d best beware

’cause at the Pentagon bar they’re an inseparable pair

and as long as the lobbyists are paying their bills

we’ll never have a savior on Capitol Hill

[Bridge]

all of our problems gonna disappear

when we can whisper right in that President’s ear

he could walk right across the reflection pool

in his combat boots and ten thousand dollar suit

you can render unto Caesar everything that’s his

you can trust in his power to come to your defense

it’s the way of the world, the way of the gun

it’s the trading of an evil for a lesser one

so don’t hold your breath or your vote until

you think you’ve finally found a savior up on Capitol Hill

A Savior on Capitol Hill | [derekwebb.net].

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