After Baton Rouge

The flag was lowered on Friday in a demonstration of sorrow and respect for the victims of the Nice terrorist attack. Before it could be raised again, three more law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge were murdered yesterday. 

I shook my head and blinked back tears. One of my first thoughts was, "We can't even lower the flag for them, because it's already lowered." 

Raising and lowering the flag for Blue Springs has done something deep in me. In a way, I am symbolically grieving on behalf of our town, our state, our nation, as I move the flag up and down the pole.

It's something I can do, but I wish there were more.

Today, I'll go to the town hall, raise the flag for a moment, and lower it on behalf of the men who died needlessly yesterday. I know our President hasn't ordered it, but it's the only tangible thing I can think of to do.

Besides pray.

And I'm doing that already.

Baton Rouge followed too quickly on the heels of Dallas. I'm still reeling from the last massacre of law enforcement officers, my heart still in shock. I guess we all are. When I heard the news yesterday, I was filled with sorrow and horror at a world gone wrong.

We are sin-broken and only a sin-fix can help us. 

We all have a sin problem that began in the Garden of Eden and has shown no sign of dissipating since the beginning of time. We are born in sin and we live in sin, but there is hope. 

God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die and be raised again to pay for our sin. We can live in His power, His grace, His love. We can be different.

Sin is inherent in our nature but it does not have to control us. It does not have to take control and incite us to plow down men and women who have vowed to serve and protect us. 

Murder is sin.

It's not the only sin, but it is sin. Not an act of heroism. Not an honorable act of martyrdom.

There is nothing to celebrate in murder, and those who think there is are deceived, if not criminally insane.

There is hope, but it is not found in more laws, military or civil might, or social fixes. 

The only real hope is found in humility, repentance, renouncing our sin, and seeking God's face. People of God, it's our turn to demonstrate the kind of repentance that brings change.  

Let's do it together.

Almighty God, You alone are righteous. We confess that we are a sinful people and, as a nation and individually, we have not followed you as we ought.

We confess that we have not loved You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We have loved the things the world offers, and they have become idols to us. 

We have tried to balance with one foot in the world and one foot in faith, and we have failed.

We confess that we have not loved our neighbor as You have loved us, much less as we love ourselves. 

We confess that we have allowed our differences to separate us, whether that be skin pigment or socioeconomic status. 

We have not loved life the way You do. We have not stood for life. 

We have not fought against injustice.

We have loved busyness rather than righteousness.

Oh, God, forgive us and make us different. 

Help us to renounce the sin we love and embrace Your righteousness. Help us to love You and our neighbor. Help us to study Your Word and obey.

As a nation, we are perishing, and we beg You to intervene. We are killing ourselves, slaughtering our unity, and destroying our own hope. 

We beg You to heal our land. Save us, Lord, for we cannot save ourselves.

We ask it in the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb
________________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Blended Fruit 

#BatonRouge #repent #sin #policeshooting #yourlifematterstome

The Prayer Vigil

(Written Sunday evening...)

Desegregation occurred when I was in 9th grade. It was a very confusing time.

To be perfectly honest, the only black people I knew back then were Clara Belle and Phoebe. Clara Belle was a tall, big-boned woman who talked so loud to herself that she scared me. During my medical school psychiatry rotation, I realized she was probably schizophrenic. She ended up at Whitfield when she threw bricks at the welfare people. I don't know what happened to her after that, but I've wondered about her a lot over the years.

My grandmother loved Clara Belle. When she was hungry or needed money, she came to see Grandmother, who always gave her a little work, a little money, and a big meal. If my grandmother had had a lot of money, she'd have given it to her. I think she probably gave her all she had.

Phoebe worked for my grandmother for many years. It looked to me as if they were best friends. Even when Phoebe was too old and frail to do much work, she'd come to our house and cook a little. She and my grandmother would talk and pray. We all loved Phoebe. I thought all black people were as gentle and kind as she.

The world changed for everyone that 9th grade year. The black high school students came to the white high school. Younger grades were moved to the black high school. There was lots of anger and fighting and fear and I didn't understand it, but it frightened me.

There were marches and boycotts and I didn't understand any of it, either. They frightened me, too.

I didn't know there were places black people couldn't go back then, but I do now, and I'm still shocked by it. 

I had some hard experiences in high school because of desegregation, and they were painful at the time. Looking back, though, I prefer to remember Sharon Nicks. She was the prettiest black girl I'd ever seen. She had the most wonderful, gentle smile and I thought she was a lot like Phoebe. She was genuinely nice.

I didn't understand much of the unrest that happened when I was in high school. I just lived through it, like we do.

I understand a lot more now, and I wish I could've made it easier for those kids. Because they had it bad. I'm so very sorry for all their suffering.

Things are better than they were for African Americans, but they still aren't all they should be, and it's past time for change.

I don't know what I can do to make a difference, but I'm going to the prayer vigil because I care. Because God cares. Because black lives matter to me, just like white lives and Asian lives and any other lives. 

Life matters.

By the time you read this, I'll probably already be at the prayer vigil, joining with others in our community to pray for healing in our nation and our community. It's long overdue, and I'm praying healing begins tomorrow.

I've spent most of this afternoon preparing meals for Sam to eat while I'm gone, putting the final polish on my notes for teaching Wednesday evening, and pondering what God will do tomorrow.

I never know what to expect from Him, but I know that, if I'm faithful, He will be, too. And so I go...

If you've never participated in a prayer vigil, I invite you to come. I'm not in charge in any way, so I don't know what the leaders have planned. At most of the prayer vigils I've attended, the altar is open and people pray, alone or in groups. 

If you want to come, look for me, and I'lll pray with you. 

It may not be a familiar place, but there'll be family there, and I'm sure you'll be welcome. With your presence, even if it's just for a few minutes, you'll make it clear that every life matters to you, no matter how much pigment their skin has.

The words I plan to say, as often as possible, are "Your life matters to me." I invite you to do the same.

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31 nasb

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb
______
In case you missed it, here's the link to Your Life Matters to Me

And the link to The All-Important IF and the Chance to Save a Nation
#yourlifematterstome #prayervigil #disciple

The All-Important IF and the Chance to Save A Nation

I've spent the last three months writing about Hosea. As I've studied and written about the times in which Hosea lived, I've been shocked by the parallels between his nation and ours. 

God's people worshipped false gods, sacrificed infants in the name of prosperity (to the idol Molech), and made immorality a way of life. They still talked a great game, but the worship of their idols was so intermingled with the rituals of God-worship that they exchanged faith for a form of religion, relationship with God for nothing more than words.

Hosea's world looked so much like ours that I cannot help but wonder if we will end up the way Israel did. God's people had one chance after another to repent, but they did not. It cost them everything God had given them. They lost their homeland. Their homes and all their possessions. Their wealth. Their freedom. Their lives.

We, too, stand on a precipice. 

I don't have to tell you what a mess we've made of our freedom. You can see it on your news feed. In our streets. In our homes.

A precipice is not a place you remain forever. You either go forward, into destruction, or make a change that takes you to a safer place. We have a choice to make as a nation. Will we do what it takes to become the strong, healthy, and unified nation our founders intended or not? 

It's that simple.

Those of us in the northeast Mississippi area have an "if My people" opportunity. 

One moment. 

One chance.

A group of ministers in Tupelo, both black and white, have called for a Day of Prayer on Monday, July 11, 2016. A 24-hour prayer vigil will be held at the Temple of Compassion and Deliverance in Tupelo. It begins tomorrow (Monday, July 11, 2016) at 6 am and runs until Tuesday at 6 am. The address is 1148 N. Madison St. in Tupelo.

I'm going, and I hope you will, too.

When God says He will move in response to the prayers and repentance of His people, He's not kidding, but our repentance and prayers are not optional, either.

We've complained about the situation in our community and our nation. We've grumbled about the killings and the anger and the violence. We've trembled in fear at what is happening.

Now, we have a chance to come together and make a difference. We must not let this opportunity go by.

It doesn't matter what I think we should do. It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks we should do. At this point, all that matters is what God wants us to do. 

We already know what He wants.

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb

Humbling ourselves is not optional. Praying and seeking His face is not optional. Turning from our wicked ways is not optional. It must all be done.

BUT, if we do what God says, He will hear us. He will forgive. He will heal.

Tomorrow, we will kneel together before the Only One who can make a difference. It won't matter how much pigment we have in our skin cells. It won't matter where we usually go to church. 

The only thing that will matter is that we're willing to humble ourselves, repent, turn from our sins, and pray.

If we will do that, God will heal. He said He would, and He will.

IF.

It's a big IF. The question is not whether God will respond. The question is whether we will do our part.

I'm counting on you, body of Christ. A nation in desperate trouble is counting on you, and they don't even know it.

Now is our moment. Now is our chance. We dare not let this pass. 

I'll be there at 6 am. I hope you will be, too.
_____________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's extra post: Your Life Matters to Me and to: The Fish Hook Gift

#yourlifematterstome #714 #saveournation #disciple

Your Life Matters To Me

My life-long friend, Gene Merkl, sent me a text about an experience he had this morning. It was so profound that I wanted to share it, and he's given me permission.

Gene went to the grocery store this morning. They were cleaning the floors and he couldn't get to the coffee section. He asked about getting through and was told he'd have to wait until the floor was clean.

Gene is a persistent kind of guy, so he went to the other end of the aisle. He got the same response.

He'd decided to give up when a young man, an employee, overheard the conversation and asked, "What do you need?" Gene told him and the young man said, "Wait here."

He was back in just a bit with the coffee Gene wanted. As the young man handed him the package, Gene was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and said words that are beautiful to me.

"I want you to know that your life matters to me. I want to make it personal. I don't need a government or a media to say it for me. YOUR LIFE MATTERS TO ME because we were made by the same God and have the same hopes and fears and dreams. I don't know if I will ever be able to help you, but it won't be because I didn't care. Your life matters to me."

Gene nailed what I tried and failed to say with hundreds of words.

Your life matters to me. 

No matter what color skin you have, no matter what your religious preference, no matter what your lifestyle or your occupation, no matter where you live, no matter what you do, your life matters to me, because it matters to God.

I believe Gene is right. These are the words we need to be speaking to each other, especially white to black. Black to white. Your life matters to me because it matters to God.

I wish I'd said this yesterday, but I will be saying it from now on. I challenge you all to begin to say these words to all you meet, and to mean it. 

"Your life matters to me because your life matters to God."

These are words that will heal.

It's balm of Gilead, and we need to spread it over this hurting, broken nation of ours.

Your life matters to me.

"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb... I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalm 139:13,14 nasb
_______
In case you missed it, here's the link to All Life Matters/Every Life Matters

#yourlifematterstome