Church as a Catalyst for Healing and Service

This issue of race and reconciliation, this is really as bad as things are, opened up a critical opportunity for some healing and from some leadership from the church, because the culture doesn't have any answers. We have answers that we haven't applied. They can do three things. First of all, they can get with other churches of like faith to bring Christians together who share the same identity in Christ, because that should overrule color differences. [01:39:51]

Reconciliation comes through service, not through having a bunch of seminars. We can talk all day about how we all get along kumbaya, but if we assert when you're in a war, you don't care about the color class or culture of the god fighting next to you as long as he's shooting in the same direction you are. We have a common problem, and we need to face it in a common way through our service while we get one get to know one another along the way. [01:40:51]

How do we continue to cultivate in our children a bibliocentric worldview when they're just hearing so many other voices that are leading them down a different path? What are you doing and then Katherine even with your children, what are you all doing to cultivate that in the lives of your children? I mean, I think that, you know, and dad could speak really academically to this about historically, um, the philosophies of thought like the Greeks had a way of thinking and the Romans had a way of thinking. [01:44:56]

As parents, we still have the opportunity and the gift of training them how to think, and so just yesterday after we listened to the sermon from church, you know, we were sitting around eating leftover pancakes and bacon because we were going to finish it all, and I printed out the study guide and I was asking them questions and the kids' assignments this week were to read the scriptures that were referenced in the sermon and say how do what does that look like for you. [01:45:56]

The scriptures that she remembers are not the ones she learned in her 30s and 40s, it's the ones that she learned when she was at her mother's knee that are so deeply ingrained in her mind and her heart, and many of us know this to be true when we're away from our mothers we can still hear their voices in our heads that there is a way that you can get in your kids' heads with your own wisdom that your god-given god inspired a wisdom that comes from a godly worldview. [01:47:19]

I think as your kids get older you don't shy away from hard conversations you engage in them because it's an opportunity to train them in thinking and looking at that and say what is the world view that this commentator or this newscaster is sharing and what does god's word say about that and if you don't know google it, I mean it's okay for you to learn alongside your kids so I think you can train them and be intentional about it. [01:48:56]

When I was five or six I don't remember I just know it was before I knew how to spell my name is when I noticed that I had same sex desires didn't know the name forward didn't have you know this was early 90s and so it wasn't like you know tv and culture and all of the it's not like I had all these options for how to identify myself until I went to church and that's when I heard that what I was dealing with was called homosexuality. [01:54:25]

God is so consistent that he would not allow me to continue sinning against him in a variety of ways without the acknowledgement of my conscience it was just everything that I heard in Sunday school everything that I saw in my aunt who was a Christian she used to read and sing the psalms and it was confusing to me because ain't none of them rhyme but she's saying with all our heart mind and joy and strength. [01:56:59]

I needed to give god like my whole life and my whole heart my whole mind and all of that was the holy spirit none of that made any sense apart from the holy spirit unveiling my eyes to see the beauty that is Jesus and so now you know I'm just trying to live this life to the best of my ability into the glory of his name. [01:57:59]

You hold god's standard high and it's non-negotiable but you love people up to it you don't oppress them with it you don't change it but you are walking with them if that the whole purpose of the church is to be an environment that facilitates spiritual development so you want to grow people and you can't grow people if you dismiss them reject them and oppress them but if you love them and show compassion to them. [01:58:39]

I ask god questions without questioning god you have to make a distinction between the two rebecca said why lord how long lord but then he closes and he says but I'm still going to trust you so I asked god questions but what I didn't do was question him god has a conditional will and an unconditional will the conditional will says if you meet certain conditions I'll do this the unconditional will means this is my plan regardless of what you do. [02:06:10]

We have a whole outreach ministry we call it the turnaround agenda where we impact the community with food with clothes with job training job placement with health issues with unplanned pregnancies a comprehensive program the biggest of which is the adoption of over 40 public schools where we provide mentoring and family support services as our way of bringing healing to young people their families and strength for our community. [02:17:56]