Social Commentary

The Beatitudes & Social Unrest in America

Beatitudes, Cross, Justice, Kingdom of God, Racism, Social Commentary

For the last two years, much of my focus in prayer and thought has been soaked in the Beatitudes. Part of this is for a practical purpose. I am currently writing a book to be published in the Fall of 2021 by Fortress Press (working title: Jesus People: Communities Formed by the Beatitudes).

But more importantly, I have become convinced that the Beatitudes are, indeed, the lens through which we are called to live. They encapsulate Jesus’ entire life, ministry, teaching, death and resurrection. Each of us would do well to commit them to memory and prayerfully reflect upon them every day.

Because in the tumultuous storm that is currently raging throughout American society, the Beatitudes give us an anchor that enables us to offer a grounded, Christlike response.

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Imagine

Justice, Racism, Social Commentary

I haven’t blogged since January. Of course, as we all know, much has happened in the world since then. But so much has already been written from virtually every conceivable perspective regarding COVID-19. I’ve certainly had plenty of my own thoughts, but I’ve had opportunities to share those thoughts on Sunday mornings.

Between helping my church navigate through this challenging season, and also devoting significant time towards my next book project, I just haven’t had much time to give to blogging.

I’m making an exception today. But rather than compose my own piece, I wanted to share a post I read a few days ago on a New Orleans Saints message board (of all places). These thoughts were written and posted in the context of a discussion of the Ahmaud Arbery murder three months ago. And now, just within the last couple days, two more race-related incidents have occurred, one of which resulted in the death of another unarmed black man.

This post was written by a fellow Saints fan who goes by the handle “First Time Poster.” His comments were a response to another person who took exception to a third party making an unfair generalization in reference to Arbery’s murderers (“Whites gonna white.”). I felt his response was powerful and worthy of sharing with my readers. With his permission, I’ve re-posted his comments below for your own reflection:

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MacArthur & Moore – A Self-Reflection

Church Leadership, Social Commentary, Women in Ministry

Just last weekend my ten-year old daughter, Reagan, arrived home from an overnight church retreat for girls. She was so thrilled to tell us all about her experience.

The first words out of her mouth were “I’m going to be a minister when I grow up.”

My wife brilliantly replied, “That’s awesome! But you’re going to be a room-cleaner this afternoon.”

Earlier this week our children’s pastor, Heather Bergeron, filled us in on how Reagan was worshipping with tears in her eyes during the retreat.

There is something holy and precious about children encountering God. I was only a bit older (13) when I first sensed and responded to what I felt was a call to give my life to vocational ministry. I didn’t know what kind of ministry. I didn’t know much about how to go about pursuing ministry. I just knew that I had experienced God in an authentic way and I wanted to spend my life leading others to encounter him as well.

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