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Isaiah 50:4- “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary…”
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    • The Christian and Social Justice

      Posted at 9:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on June 2, 2020

      Matthew 23:23 – “Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others. AMP

      All around America, and in other parts of the world, there is an outcry of racial injustice. People of every ethnic group are crying out for something to be done to balance the scales of justice for people of color. I mentioned before that I am not blogging for political reasons, and so I tend to not touch the issues surrounding our nation, but this time, I must blog because our lives, people of color, Black people, matter!

      Jesus spoke some really harsh words to the religious leaders of His day. He told them that they were majoring in the things that were minor, while ignoring the things that are important, and justice was the first thing He mentioned. In other words, He commended them for their religious duties, and rebuked them for not dealing with issues of justice.

      Justice means to “make right”. It is a relational term about people living in right relationship with God and with one another. Justice is rooted in the very nature of God Himself because He always does what is right! He is known to be faithful and just! Our very Constitution’s backbone is based on His just laws. And every thing that He is, love, holy, just…He expects from us!

      I have taught the Constitution of the United States in my classroom. As a veteran of the United States Navy, I have sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, understanding that, if need be, with my life. But I am also a Black American! When I see what is happening to the greatest nation on the face of the earth, where we will spend millions for the right to bear arms, and ignore our pledge to “ensure domestic tranquility”, it’s disheartening. For domestic tranquility, peace in the land, can’t happen when it’s peace for some of the people and not all of the people.

      Christians fight against abortion, we fight against gay marriages, and we fight for our religious freedoms, and all too often, many of those same Christians will reply to “Black Lives Matter” by saying “Blue Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter”. It’s insulting to think that in the slogan Black Lives Matter, there is a suggestion that, no one else matters, when in essence, it’s really saying: We know all lives matter, and we know the lives of policeman matter, but when are you going to start realizing that our lives matter, too!

      There is undeniably a set of rules for Whites, and another set of rules for everyone else. As of 2017, Christians make up over 31% of the world’s population. We are the largest group of people in the world, and yet, racism is still an issue in our world. We have yet to affect enough change upon our laws to ensure that Blacks, and other people of color, have the same protection and value for our lives as our white counterparts.

      The Christian is taught to love as Jesus loved us. We are taught that when we come into the kingdom, we are family. We are taught that greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. And yet, racism is still a major problem in the world. 1 out of every 3 people profess Christianity, and yet, people of color are still seen as substandard, expendable, human beings. This is hypocrisy at its max. And I know that Jesus is not pleased!

      Amongst the anguish, the riots, the looting, the pain, are the voices of some really great people of all color crying out against this injustice. Not just for George Floyd, or Christian Cooper, or my daughters’ classmates whose car windows were broken out while they were tazored repeatedly by the cops; but for all injustices that we, people of color, deal with on a daily basis. It’s just getting so old!

      Here’s the funny thing. I didn’t want to blog on this. I thought, “My readers are all over the world and several of my followers are white people. I am called to teach the word, not to be political, that’s my assignment.” And yet, this is the word, spoken clearly by our Savior! We are not to ignore justice!

      Until we can demonstrate our love for every nation of people, and have the same laws apply to us all, and stand against the injustices of humanity, irregardless of the color of our skin, then we are not demonstrating the values that I see in Jesus and His word. And if you find this offensive, then I would really rather not be followed by someone who sees me as okay as long as I am quiet about my race and the injustices that we have to deal with, day in and day out! Because for me and my family and loved ones, this is a matter of life and death. And we cannot afford to ignore it!

      If you are a Christian who truly believe the Word, then you cannot be passive about social justice. And neither can I! It’s time to pray for racism to be revealed and dealt within our society. It’s time to ask God to help us be a part of the solution, and not a part of the problem. If there is to be peace in America, then it’s time for there to be peace for all Americans! If there is to be world peace, it’s time for it to be available for everyone. We are His hands extended to a lost and racially biased world, and to change it, maybe it’s time for us to change! Wonderful Jesus!

      Note: This is my blog and I fully support the ideas and thoughts expressed in it! I also completely disagree with the violence and looting that is going on and am praying that it cease.

      Posted in Christian, Jesus, Social Justice | 9 Comments | Tagged Christian, George Floyd, hypocrisy, Jesus, love, protection, racism, Social Justice, Tithing, word of God
    • Are You a Hypocrite?

      Posted at 1:53 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on June 29, 2019

      Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

      The goal of my life is to live it according to this verse. When Paul said this to Peter, he said a mouthful and I have been impacted by it in such a way that I want it said of me, Galatians 2:20 encapsulates her life.

      Paul and Peter were fellowshipping with the Gentiles when some Jewish brethren from James arrived. Peter, a leader in the church, removed himself from the mix fearing criticism, causing other Jews, including Barnabas, to do the same. Paul was so outdone that he felt a need to address the situation. So he called Peter out in front of everybody.

      Paul begins by reminding the Jewish believers of the truth that when they became believers, the law and its code of separation from others went out the door and was no longer the way they should live. The Bible actually refers to this type of behavior in the New Testament as hypocrisy.

      Let me just stop and say that I believe that God told the Jewish nation to stay separate from the other nations because they didn’t have the power to live for Him yet, while being amongst them. In other words, it wasn’t until they accepted Jesus as Savior and were filled with the Holy Spirit that the power to intermingle with unbelievers were made available to them. You can see throughout scriptures that they acclimated to every culture they lived near. So God was trying to keep them from straying from Him, while at the same time teaching them that the law was insufficient in helping them to do so! Now Paul is reminding Peter and the other Jewish believers that in light of this truth, what they had done was hypocritical.

      Paul then comes to this life changing statement of faith! He says “I have been crucified with Christ!” This is powerful! Don’t miss it! Paul is saying, I have laid all of that stuff on the cross with Jesus. All of my elitist attitudes have died. All of my old ways of thinking have died. My old ways of living have died. All of my allegiance to separatism of the law has died! All of it!

      There is so much in this verse! As I was meditating on it I had to really think about my life. Have I truly died to everything associated with the “old man” and its nature? Yes, I have! It is written, “old things have passed away, behold all things are new!” But it is up to me and up to you to live accordingly! As it was up to Peter and to Barnabas! They too had died to their old man, but when placed in certain situations, the old man was resurrected.

      Peter knew this better than Paul did. Or he should have. After all, it was Peter whom God placed in a trance and commanded that he eat the unclean beasts. Peter then told God that he wasn’t going to and he never had eaten anything unclean or uncommon. Then God responded to him, “Don’t call common what I have cleaned!” (Acts 10). I thought it interesting that Peter had just raised Dorcas from the dead and seen a mighty move of God and now he was telling the Lord what he wasn’t going to do! Just a note to remind you that even when He uses us powerfully, we can still do and say some dumb things!!

      I’m not going to go where you I know I can go with this. Suffice it to say, there is no place for this type of attitude in the body of Christ. It was not acceptable then and it isn’t acceptable now. Paul reminded Peter, and I will remind myself and you, hypocrisy is harmful to the body! Especially from leadership! Leaders are leaders because others follow them. Right or wrong! You don’t want to be responsible for leading others into the ditch!

      If you are a leader in your church and you have felt above others, or selectively have fellowship with others in the faith, or have totally not embraced others because they are different, you are a hypocrite! If you, as a member of the Body of Christ, have ever been guilty of similar behavior like Peter’s or Barnabas, you are a hypocrite! Stop it!

      Might I remind you that Jesus died for us all! He cleansed us all! He doesn’t have one cleansing for the Jew and one for the Gentile. He doens’t have one cleansing for the blacks and one for everybody else. He doesn’t have one cleansing for men and one for women. He doesn’t have one cleansing for Baptists and one for Pentecostals. No!!!!!! If you are born of the Spirit of the Living God, then you have had the same Blood washing that all the rest of the believers have had. And that’s the gospel truth!!

      I told you that there is a lot packed in this verse! I didn’t realize that I would only be able to address this first part. If you want to know what else I have to say on the rest of this verse you will just have to return to my blog to view it. Until then, don’t be a hypocrite! Wonderful Jesus!!

      Posted in Attitude, Believers, Galatians, Galatians 2:20, hypocrisy, relationships, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Attitude, Believer, Galatians, hypocrisy
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