Just thinking about...

The War On Christians

This article by Ayaan Hirsi Ali in last weeks' NEWSWEEK really bothered me.  There is just too much factual evidence here to ignore and pass off as a few isolated events.  It is a travesty that should be opposed, spoken against, and (hopefully) acted upon by the international community.

Talking to the TV

OK... I’ll admit it! I sometimes talk to the TV.

It’s true- especially when I hear something that is really outrageous.  I talk to the tube and even loudly sometimes.

It happened Saturday while I was watching the news and running on my treadmill. One of the panel members discussing the political machinations related to the President’s “compromise” with the Catholic Church cautioned that the Catholic Church was in danger of alienating the American People with their position on abortion.

What?? You’re kidding?!?! I can imagine some journalist telling the prophet Jeremiah that he was in danger of alienating the Hebrew people and/or king with his positions on righteousness. Thank God for the Catholic Church saying what their convictions are on this issue and not putting a finger to the wind asking if everybody would like it.

I’m not Catholic. I am a conservative, Evangelical, Christian of the Baptist variety; but I think the greatest danger the American people face is further alienating The God of the Universe. What does it profit a people/nation if they gain the approval of the majority of people in that nation and lose their soul in the process?

 Truly we are flying upside down.

 

 

The Prophet & The Presidwnt

A few weeks ago in the Hamrick Lectures at First Baptist Church, Charleston, I heard Eric Metaxas, the author of Bonhoeffer, the definitive biography of one of my heroes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The lectures were amazing; but what really thrilled my soul was this conservative, articulate spokesperson for the Jesus I love.  I was moved and encouraged to develop my ability to articulate my Christian faith in a secular world. It was great. For far too long, we who hold conservative views on Scripture, Jesus, and  life, have been caricatured as uninformed and somewhat backward. It's not unusual to hear the southern dismmissal: "He's a conservativbe. Bless his heart." Forgive me, but I am!

I have discovered earlier this week that Metaxas was the main speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast. Here's a link to the entire prayer breakfast meeting. Metaxas is about 35 minutes in.

He spoke simply and yet profoundly, and I recommend checking it out. It is not wrong to be conservative in our culture. It is not wrong to think we can do a better job following God's word. It is not wrong to think Jesus is The Truth, The LIfe, and The Way to connect with God. And it is OK to reject what anyone tells us when it contrasts with clear teaching of the Scriptures. Guess I was pumped by Eric! Thx.

Curt's opinion.

 

 

 

An Epic Win

I spent the latter part of last week with Reggie McNeal and 40 or so other Christ Followers in some “God conversations”. Reggie called it the Unconference which was quite appropriate for the time together.  One of the conversations was to look at our current culture/world and dream of some “Epic Wins” where the church could lead. An Epic Win would be something so wonderful that only God could pull it off.  Of course, we imagined the day when every knee would bow and every tongue confess Jesus. What an Epic Win that will be! But it seems as if there are other broken places God wants to redeem.  And these places could be redeemed if the church were mobilized not only for salvation redemption, but the redemption of the rest of life.

I thought of several issues that would be potential Epic Wins, issues that the supernatural hand of God must redeem: hunger, poverty, war, the economy, marriage.  But one particular issue stirred deeply in my soul- racial harmony. My heart and mind say the division prompted by racial differences is far greater than we realize. And unless there is an intentional and spiritually driven effort, we will see the divide deepen. And the church of Jesus Christ must not only lead the way, but make the sacrifices to see it become a reality that “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight”. O God, make it so.

After sharing it with Reggie and my buddy Marshall Blalock, I began to ask God how I could be an instrument in His hands to facilitate racial harmony in the US and world. If God would use His Church to lead the way in racial harmony, it would be an Epic Kingdom Win where only God could be praised for the solution. We would be the blessed peacemakers Jesus called us to be in Matthew 5.

But where do we start? Of course, to pray for racial harmony would be a good start, but learning to live with my brother or sister from another tribe will require more than prayer closet praying. We who follow Christ must take the initial steps across racial or cultural differences to become friends with people from a different ethnic or cultural background. We must bring others into our world and step into their world as a learner, a student. We must eliminate all the qualifications for “brother or sister” status other than Jesus, and become a student of those who are the same kind of different than me.

What do you think? I would love to know your thoughts, and I would apreciate your praying about this with me. Pray especially that I would know what the next steps are for me personally and as lead Pastor of Riverbluff Church. Send any thought to cbradford@riverbluff.org