How the Kingdom of God Reshapes Our Thinking about Sin and Redemption
We were blessed to have Dennae Pierre speak to us at this week’s prayer meeting.
Her reflections on the nature of sin and the kingdom of God brought fresh insight to our repentance and to the saving work of Jesus.
I was moved by her profound words.
If you weren’t able to join, you can still benefit from her insights.
For subscribers, check your email for a link to our prayer meeting.
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You won’t want to miss it!
“What Christendom Effectively Believed”
Like many of you, I find this season of listening deeply humbling, a challenge to fundamental assumptions I have about our history and about the church in America.
It’s tempting to bristle at the questions posed by people with fundamentally different experiences of things one holds dear. Perhaps even in the name of truth to try to silence those voices.
But the truth never silences some while empowering others.
The truth always liberates.
“You will know the truth,” Jesus assures us, “and the truth will set you free.”
And in that freedom Christ has won for us we seek truth, for we ourselves are not truth. We do not own truth. At our best we are mere servants of the truth.
So we listen.
This week I listened to these difficult words from the renowned author James Baldwin, who described his experience with the majority culture church:
According to many Christians, I was the descendant of Ham, who had been cursed, and that I was predestined to be a slave. This had nothing to do with anything I was, or contained, or could become; my fate had been sealed forever, from the beginning of time. And it seemed, indeed, when one looked out over Christendom, that this was what Christendom effectively believed. It was certainly the way it behaved.“
God help us believe and behave in ways that demonstrate the tender compassion and unshakable justice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading While Black: An Interview
We’ve already listened to some great people open up about the racial tensions within the American church.
We’re in for another treat.
Esau McCaulley is an Anglican priest, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College (IL), and author of the critically acclaimed book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. It was awarded The 2021 Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year Award by Christianity Today.
McCaulley discusses his book on the Bible Project podcast. In this episode, he looks at what the Bible has to say about everything from biblical deconstructionism to social justice.
Listen to it here. Then share your thoughts in our Facebook group.
Let’s keep the conversation going!
(Note: in case you missed the first two resources we listened to together, you can find them here and here.)
Landon Moore Joins Us for Prayer Meeting
As is our custom we’ll gather Wednesday at noon ET to listen, lament, and look to Jesus together.
I’m delighted to tell you that this week we’ll hear from Landon Moore.
Landon serves as Assistant Rector at the Church of St. Mark in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the largest parish in the Diocese of Long Island.
He is also the secretary of the Union of Black Episcopalians.
Landon’s YouTube channel hosts some great conversations with my friend Ben DeHart on all things life and theology.
He will share what God has put on his heart and lead us into a time of lament and prayer.
Hope to see you there!