Dr. King, Race and the Gospel

Forty-one years ago today the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
As the son of white middle class parents, I have never really had to deal with racial prejudice being exercised against me. As an activist, I've heard horror stories from men and women mistreated because of their ethnicity. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I can not stomach the antics, tactics and slogans of so many white Americans when it comes to the racial divide in America. I desperately want to connect people's lives to the good news of Jesus Christ, and how the Gospel changes the way you look at the people around you.
One of the books I've recently been reading, "Gracism: the Art of Inclusion" by David A. Anderson, has been helping me work through how, as a Christian, I respond to racism and the different tensions between ethnicities. He said something as an African-American that caught my attention.
"As much as I love the black church and at times miss it, there will be no black church in heaven. There will be one church and it will be multicultural. One Bride, not a harem, is what Jesus is coming back for"
Did you get that? This idea our culture has propagated, that all Christians should worship with only their ethnicity, is dead wrong. You will not find any single ethnicity church anywhere in the New Testament. Why? Because Christ came to save people of every ethnicity. We've got to remember that the universal community of faith is just that Universal. Lets not forget the millions of believers around the world who don't look like us.
As we think about the life and death of the Rev. King, it is my prayer that we would make our communities more like heaven will one day be.

A Brief Note on Lent

Lent is an interesting period in the church calendar. Originally intended to symbolize Christ's temptation in the desert, it has become one of the largest celebrated seasons in the World. As today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent, I thought it might be appropriate to discuss what I'm doing for Lent, and why so many people get it wrong.
Lent is more about having a right heart than it is about sacrificing something. Many people wrongly decide to observe Lent as an exercise of their will power, not understanding the greater significance of their fast. This year, as the first year I will observe Lent, I have both given up a couple of things and added something to my life. I will be drinking one gallon of water everyday, and will be giving up the majority of carbonated drinks. My goal is no more than 4x12oz cans a week. The one other thing I intend to do over this period of fasting is to eat out less, and eat with my family more. All of my "sacrifices" for Lent are directly related to two guiding principles of life that I am trying to stick with. First, that my body is not my own, but God's creation and thus I am expected to maintain it well. I have let my physical well-being slip in the last few years, and this "sacrifice" for Lent is an opportunity to love God with my body. The second driving principle of this concept relates to the biblical command to love my family. As the oldest son, and as one still living in my parents house, I have not obeyed that command well. I hope to be able to spend time with my parents, while living at home, so that when I go over-seas, they will not feel abandoned.
So then, thats my plan for Lent. I'm going to try to Love God and Love my Family.

A Break from Blogging and a Trip to North Africa

In case either one of you faithful readers has missed me, I've been taking a break from blogging to focus on some more important endeavors (school, IMB, the Summit...)
Lord willing, I'll be making my return to the blogosphere in the next month or so, with a series of posts on theological topics. In the mean time, I thought you all might like a brief overview of my life at present.

I'm twenty-four credit hours away from finishing my degree in English at the College at Southeastern, with a lot of options open to me when I graduate.
I work part-time at Southeastern Seminary, in the media dept, doing production and design work.
I am also doing an internship at the Summit Church in Durham, NC, in Video and Design.
I'm currently single, with no intention of dating over the next 18mo.
The reason I'm not pursuing any relationships is that at this point, I am planning on spending two years in North Africa with the Journeyman program, as part of a Church plant from the Summit. If everything works out, I will be leaving for the field in August of 2010, and spending two years there with a team of Godly men and women, sharing the love of Jesus in an Islamic context. Your prayers are greatly appreciated as I prepare to do this.

I'll be posting more on the blog once life gets into a better groove.