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Race and Justice Resources

John Biewen both delivered a Ted Talk and hosted a season for the Scene on Radio podcast series called “Seeing White” that I believe are very helpful in grasping the nuances of this topic.

For Christians, I recommend listening to The Gospel Coalition’s “As in Hvn” podcast – Season 2. These episodes focus on Race and Justice from a Biblical perspective.

In the video session below, Pastor Tim Keller speaks with Attorney Bryan Stephenson (Just mercy), founder of Equal Justice Initiative. “People may be silent on this but the Bible is NOT.”

“The Talk” – this will break your heart.

Below is a podcast series hosted by Tyler Byrns and Jemar Tisby

Wonderful discussion on differences between the White church and the Black church when it comes to the issues of racism.

White Privilege discussed.

Below is a blog post written by Phil Vischer, creator of the Veggie Tales series. This is a fascinating contrast that shows how we can view and tell our stories in different ways. He calls his post a Confession. Even so, it prompted quite a debate in the comments section under the article!

FABULOUS overview on Becoming Just Disciples in an Unjust World by Judy Wu Dominick. [click below]

Books

https://youtu.be/YvIO2GU8yTU

Movies

Documentaries

Experiences

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Election Season

Politics are a well-worn merry go round. I will admit that for most of my life I was on conservative cruise control. The means justified the ends. I wanted lower taxes and people to pull their own weight. I didn’t think about voting; I just did it – along party lines. No personal research needed. It was, in my view, the lesser of evils when I did not believe in either candidate. Sadly, I put in the neither the work nor the prayer I believe Christians should put in to seek God’s wisdom in such weighty matters.

I liken my philosophy to a traditional golf game where everyone is playing the course individually. In a tournament or even a friendly game, I am trying to do my best and, while I can’t affect your game directly, if you do poorly there is less pressure on me. The courses we play may change with the winds of Democrat and Republican, but the goal is always the same – get the ball in the hole with the fewest strokes. Its an individual thing.

The Problem…

Once I gave my life over to Christ back in high school, I had a Savior. I exchanged my life for eternal communion and salvation. That meant I also had a boss – not a genie in a bottle to grant my wishes.

What am I seeking?

Peace. Peace that I did the best I could with the information available and the decisions presented.

Who do I answer to?

This part should be clear but apparently not… Obviously, I can just go through the motions because I did when it comes to elections and voting for 40 years. I am a Follower of Jesus so I answer to Him. The Bible should be my guidebook for life and decisions.

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Follow Carefully

When it comes to living out my faith and choosing who to follow, I am typically very cautious – probably even cynical.

One such case with Josh Harris and his book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” which exploded onto the scene right about the time our kids were in middle school.

Looking back, I am both sobered and saddened at how someone could seeming set out on what might seem like the noble cause – only to inflict accidental widespread damage. It must be devastating…

Here is a lengthy recap of Joshua Harris’ journey (https://albertmohler.com/2019/08/01/joshua-harris) and one I am pondering as I seek to lead and live my life based on my faith in Christ and convictions I am seeking from the Holy Spirit.

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Making Peace with Silence

“In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding; no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me—naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken—nothing.

It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something.

But that is not all. As soon as I decide to stay in my solitude, confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations jump about in my mind like monkeys in a banana tree. Anger and greed begin to show their ugly faces. I give long, hostile speeches to my enemies and dream lustful dreams in which I am wealthy, influential, and very attractive—or poor, ugly, and in need of immediate consolation.

Thus I try again to run from the dark abyss of my nothingness and restore my false self in all its vainglory.”

The task is to persevere in my solitude, to stay in my cell until all my seductive visitors get tired of pounding on my door and leave me alone.

Henri Nouwen

Here is a great blog post I found for exploring this a bit more.

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God Wants to Author Your Story – Not just Edit it.

Here is a great look into Steve Saint’s mindset years down the road and following an accident that left him partially paralyzed. Steve Saint, is the son of Nick Saint who was one of 5 missionaries who were killed in Ecuador in the late 1950’s. His is an amazing story of forgiveness and redemption as he grew to know (and love) the man who killed his father. The life that resulted from those experiences – guided by Christ’s love and mercy – can be felt in this video. It’s long but its well worth it!

 

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Focus on What You CAN Do

[shareable cite=”Charles R. Swindoll”]We spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the things that can’t be changed than we do giving attention to the one that we can change, our choice of attitude.[/shareable]

Attitude, it seems, is the one choice we can make each day that will have the most impact. But just because it is a choice within our reach and ability, that doesn’t mean we will make it purposefully. If you are anything like me you can drift into auto-pilot when it comes to your attitude. Unless I resolve to make my first waking thought positive and grateful – to play offense if you will – Satan will offer me a failure or frustration to chew on. If I fall for that, I will be playing defense for the rest of the day. And I have handed over way too many of my days that way!

Going into 2017, I am completing some goal and “why” homework for our business coach. Page 1 in his workbook features a quote on Attitude attributed to Charles Swindoll – an evangelical Christian leader which whom I am familiar. So, being the internet quote skeptic that I am, I googled “attitude + Charles Swindoll” to see what came up. Lots of images with the same text citing Charles Swindoll. Lots of creative fonts and frames and backgrounds. But I was looking for Charles’ personal blog or website as confirmation and I could not find a direct connection.

What I DID find was a couple of blog posts on attitude from Charles Swindoll that generally convey the same message on the subject of attitude.

Here’s the Quote

[shareable cite=”Charles R. Swindoll”]Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there’s no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.[/shareable]