Thank Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for your selfless effort to unite a nation by our character and not by our color. I have a white dad and a black mom, so I would not technically be alive if it you weren’t for you.
I look forward to personally thanking you someday up there….
“I alone am left; and they seek to take my life”, cried the fear dreaded prophet.*
The infamous King Ahab reported to his wife everything the Prophet Elijah had done, including the massacre of the prophets of their false god Baal. Queen Jezebel called for the head of God’s servant, and now Elijah fled for dear life.
Under a lone broom bush is where he had made this cry.
While God actually had seven thousand men who still pledge allegiance to Him, Elijah felt left all alone.
Prior to this week of camp, I found myself in that mood swing. Then came Ryan. Ryan was a volunteer of a team who came from overseas to help run the day camp.
Tonight we shared our most cherished moments from camp. I shared about my first impression with Ryan.
Ryan galloped to me after I had finish sharing with my group. His smile was radiant and he brought a warm welcome with his cool, sweaty hands.
As we converse, I was being fed with fire. He struck me with his burning love for Jesus. It was natural and it was contagious. It felt like we had to be talking about the new Batman movie and not about God. But we were and we were both excited.
Awe threw me over when Ryan revealed that we we’re almost the same age (I am year older). I leaped in my spirit: “Wow, someone (near) my age and he shares my passion to serve Jesus!”
That’s when it hit me like an avalanche. Maybe the same way Elijah’s heart swelled with relief when he heard God’s report of the seven thousand faithful men who were with the prophet.
I’m not alone.
Sometimes it’s not a sermon that can reignite in us a refreshed zeal for Christ: sometimes, we just need to be fed with a fire from an active brother or sister in God’s family.
*1 Kings 19:10 NKJV
Arrested 20 times. Travelled 6 million miles. Assaulted 4 times. These are numbers that are affiliated to the toilsome work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to equalize civil rights for all people in the US. His untiringly effort help produced a more diverse welcoming society that also influenced the rest of the world.
The labour of Dr. King and many other men and women to end racial segregation and discrimination is very significant to me. You see my family is a product of their vision.
My parents are bi-racial. My dad is a white American with a proud Scottish ancestry and also shares a part Cherokee Indian lineage. My mother comes from the beautiful, sunny island of Antigua. She appears prominently black, but her grandfather was Japanese, whom married a Antiguan whose roots were from South America. My grandfather was Afro-Caribbean who enjoyed an African and Anglo-European background.
I see my parents’ marriage as a lovely symbol of God’s heart in His creation of men: “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26).
Thank you, Dr. King
At a Bible class today, we surveyed in Mark 2 when the Pharisees attacked Jesus for eating with sinners. The beauty of this event is that Jesus expressed genuine love for the people he was sitting with.
What uniquely spoke out to me at this passage is the Pharisees’ upset and bafflement of Jesus mingling with people outside his social status.
Its almost like they were saying: “Hey Jesus, we don’t hang with those kind of people.”
How I see this passage relate today is how we adjust to ‘clicks’.
“Don’t talk to him, he aint cool.”
“That guy is a freak”
“She is so weird”
When we get down with isolating every person we deem inadequate to meet our social acceptance, do we contain a real love for people?
My teacher fed this idea of isolating people when he said: “When you get done with isolating people, they only people you know are your people.”
Jesus said, “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?” (Matthew 5:46)
Partial love never impressed anyone. I can’t say that I am not guilty of isolating people, but its questionable to see people redeemed by the universal love of Jesus, filter love.
1 John 3:1a is an appropriate reminder of what Jesus’ impartial love made us:
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
Jesus has no clicks.
FOLLOW THE SON 