by Steve | Feb 23, 2018 | Uncategorized
Reflecting God’s colorful image
Courtney Lott reviews John Perkins’ One Blood
2018
Our God is a very big God. So big and so creative that a single human never could bare his image perfectly. In his vastness, he uses male and female, black and white, smart and simple, single and married to paint as full a picture as possible of his broad and unsearchable character. In One Blood, Dr. John M. Perkins weaves this truth together with grace and humility, wisdom, and love. He celebrates our ethnic diversity and confronts the sin of racism with both seriousness and gentleness, all the while keeping the gospel of Jesus front and center.
Perkins is a legendary civil rights activist, author, and an evangelical statesman. He is the founder of the famed Voice of Calvary Bible Institute, the Christian Community Development Association, and Harambee Ministries.
Perkins deftly frames his appeal by drawing from scripture. We are ultimately one race, one bright and shining reflection of the godhead. However, in order to justify slavery and subsequent racial structures, we did some illogical leapfrogging. Though steeped in the idea that all individuals are created equal, the slave’s dignity was downplayed in the worst possible sense. This is where the social construction of race came into play.
“[T]here had to be distinctions made between normal folks and this new breed of people that would be treated like animals,” Perkins writes. “The truth is that there is no black race – and there is no white race. So the idea of ‘racial reconciliation’ is a false idea. It’s a lie. It implies that there is more than one race. This is absolutely false. God created only one race – the human race.”
One blood, one race of people who, in all their diversity, produce a more complete picture of the godhead. When I first began to learn about ethnic reconciliation (a phrase Perkins considers more accurate than racial reconciliation), the sheer idea overwhelmed me. But in One Blood Perkins lays out practical steps and devotes an entire chapter to each.
The Measuring Line. Perkins begins with a measuring line, a standard for what the church ought to look like. Citing the great congregation from every tribe, tongue, and nation as seen by John in Revelation 7, he describes experiencing a “prelude to heaven” while visiting Bridgeway Community Church, a multiethnic congregation in Columbia, Maryland.
For Perkins, Bridgeway was a “picture of the oneness and the diversity of the body of Christ … a physical representation of it,” he writes. “And it was glorious! The melting of the cultures was beautiful; the blend of ethnicities was evident across the ranks of the leadership and the membership. And the music carried me away. I saw echoes of the great congregation that will stand around the throne shouting ‘Holy, Holy, Holy! Worthy is the lamb!’”
This particular church modeled biblical, ethnic reconciliation, a vital part of the gospel, according to Perkins. Though Christ came primarily to restore our relationship with God the Father, he also came to restore our relationships with each other. Neglecting this aspect of the kingdom is a grave mistake and does a disservice to Christ’s work.
“This vision for unity is borne on the wings of the good news of the gospel. It’s good news and it’s for all the people,” writes Perkins. “It’s the good news that Luke proclaimed, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!’ (Luke 2:10-11). This supernatural announcement is one of the most compelling signs that God intends for His gospel to reach all nations and cultures.”
Angels announced this good news to shepherds first. As social outcasts and caretakers of sheep, they understood their need for a sacrificial lamb, understood what it felt like to be on the margins. Never meant to be an exclusive club, Perkins reminds us that the kingdom of heaven is for all peoples, including those we might be biased against. This message the angels brought was one of hope and reconciliation, both with God and our fellow man.
Looking Back on History. Though the United States started with the idea of equality for all, we quickly got off track, Perkins says. In order to justify slavery, many used the social construction of race, focusing on the ways in which we are different. However, a close look at what scripture has to say about humanity reveals we are far more alike than our physical attributes might indicate. Perkins sites the creation of Adam in his argument that we are, in fact, one race.
“I understood from the Genesis account God’s intimate interaction with Adam when he created him, breathing into him the very breath of life,” writes Perkins. “I understood that God was literally breathing dignity and character into this man Adam … From this one man, Adam, who was created in the very image of God, the entire human race sprang.”
Both scripture and science have been abused in order to perpetuate race theory, a concept that is foundational to racism and countless other ills. These wrongs run deep and at times appear insurmountable. There is, however, hope and Perkins has experienced it personally. After experiencing severe abuse – civil rights arrest and brutality – in his native Mississippi, he never thought he would be able to return to his hometown and the people who wronged him.
Then he met Jesus. “I left Mississippi with hate in my heart,” Perkins writes. “God brought me back with a heart that was overflowing with his love. I had been reconciled to Christ, and he prepared me to return to Mississippi to be reconciled to my white brothers and sisters.”
The love of Christ, the “ultimate reconciler,” is our only hope when it comes to achieving the unity we are called to. This is the foundation upon which Perkins builds the rest of the book. Reconciliation that works is based on the gospel.
One aspect of the gospel we often overlook is the call to corporate lament. As those brought up on the idea of individualism and the American dream, this heavy concept of corporately mourning can be uncomfortable, if not painful. However, if we are to be true to the scriptures we know and love, we must face the reality that Christ calls us to lament. Though looking back on past shame is difficult, confronting our history is often the only way to move forward.
“Scripture was never intended to be used solely for individual application,” Perkins writes. “It was meant for the community of believers. The psalms of lament were meant to be tools in the community worship experience to bring the worshipers into the presence of our God. The lament is his gift to us, his church.”
Confession goes hand in hand with lament. It is in this section that Perkins explains the term “white privilege”— a highly divisive and potentially polarizing term — in a helpful way. Many white Christians might need to confess denying that racism exists and that we benefit from our skin color, he writes. As this is difficult to address without offending, Perkins draws a parallel to the privilege of being a citizen of the United States.
“Through no fault or responsibility of our own, most of us were born in the United States of America,” he writes. “Though poverty does exist in America it exists at a level far above the level of poverty in a Third World country. This could be termed ‘American privilege.’ We are afforded certain advantages just because we live in America. It’s not something that we should feel guilty about, but it is important for us to be aware of these realities … In a similar way being white in this country affords certain advantages that can be easily overlooked.”
We have tried to create God in our own image, says Perkins. Whatever makes us the most comfortable — liberal, conservative, Western, white — we remake Jesus into something that he is not: safe and sanitary. Fear drives us to this mistake and, according to Perkins, this is something else we must confess as sin. White individuals fear losing their power and status, black individuals fear the endless hard work that often doesn’t seem to bear fruit.
But God. Perkins’ refrain is always “but God.” But God’s word speaks into our fears and calls us to the perfect love that casts out all fear. God’s love can empower us to be uncomfortable and reach across the aisle, extending our hearts to one another. It also grants us the power to forgive in a way the world will sit up and notice.
As a profound example of this, Perkins sites the way the congregants of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, reacted to Dylann Roof, the young white supremacist who opened fire on a Bible study there.
“At Dylann Roof’s bond hearing, the relatives of the victims stood to address him,” Perkins writes. “‘I forgive you.’ ‘I forgive you.’ ‘I forgive you.’ These three words were spoken again and again as the family members of the Charleston church victims spoke to the accused. It was clear that they were struggling with deep emotion and grief. Yet they chose to forgive rather than to hate … many of them saying that they were praying for his soul. The nation watched, spellbound.”
This church’s example was an incredible witness to the world of just how powerful God’s love is. Forgiveness is a painfully difficult thing. It means letting go of resentment for a deep wrong they have committed against you or your loved ones. This is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit who inhabits the hearts of every believer, Perkins writes, and even with this power, it is still no easy path.
The Weapon of Our Warfare. Throughout One Blood, Perkins constantly models prayer, a practice he calls the weapon of our warfare. He ends each chapter with a cry to the Lord based on the subject he has written on, guiding the reader on a profound and grace-filled journey through a difficult topic. Pastoral in his counsel, he offers practical topics to help guide us in our appeals to the Holy Spirit for reconciliation.
Moreover, Perkins points to numerous examples of pastors and churches that have sought this kind of reconciliation. Motivated by the love of Christ, these men and women have developed more diverse congregations in their communities and strived to better image the great multitude from Revelation.
“It’s going to take intentionally multiethnic and multicultural churches to bust through the chaos and confusion of the present moment and redirect our gaze to the revolutionary gospel of reconciliation,” Perkins writes. “I really believe that each of our souls years for this vision. We want it. We know in our heart of hearts that it is right.”
Courtney Lott was the editorial assistant at Good News when this article was published in 2018.
by Steve | Nov 28, 2017 | In the News, Uncategorized
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by Steve | Aug 14, 2017 | In the News, Uncategorized
“To our shame, overt racism is becoming more acceptable in American culture today,” writes Bishop Scott Jones, the United Methodist episcopal leader of the Texas Annual Conference, in his recent pastoral letter. “It is a deep affront to the Greatest Generation that their sacrifice in defeating racist, anti-Semitic Nazism is no longer respected. When Nazi slogans, Nazi salutes and Nazi flags are combined with racist slogans, racist chants and racist flags in public demonstrations Christians must stand up and bear witness to the truth of the Gospel. We must name evil and condemn it before it gathers strength.”
The staff of Good News wholeheartedly agrees with Bishop Jones.
Furthermore, we fully support Bishop Sharma Lewis, the episcopal leader of the Virginia Annual Conference, when she states: “We need to stand together as the people of God and have our voices heard. Our witness is lost when we as Christians do not stand up and advocate, especially in times like this. We need to denounce white supremacy, neo-Nazis and the KKK. No race is superior to any other; as Christians we know that all persons are created equal in the image of God. Our baptismal vows remind us ‘to renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world and repent of your sin. Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?'”
Our prayers are with Heather Heyer’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of a young woman killed for opposing a movement that promotes hatred and division. We also pray for the families of the two Virginia State Troopers, H. Jay Cullen and Berke Bates, who died in the line of duty in a helicopter accident as they monitored the mayhem this past Saturday. We mourn with those who mourn.
“The events in Charlottesville this past weekend are only the latest in a long series of warning signs that our on-going fight against racism needs a response and recommitment from all Christians,” concludes Bishop Jones. “Those of us who are white bear a special responsibility to make sure that our sisters and brothers from other races are supported and affirmed in this scary time and they need to know that they are not the only ones that speak up against bigotry and racism. This is a Christian responsibility.”
We join with our fellow United Methodists in the Wesleyan Covenant Association in our commitment to “work for the elimination of hatred, bigotry and prejudice, and to ensure that God’s best is fully available to every person. We proclaim that the life of Jesus is light for all people, that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.”
We encourage United Methodists to take seriously their spiritual discipleship to confront racism, violence, white supremacy, and the unholy misery and suffering unleashed under the swastika. Love wholeheartedly. Pray for peace.
by Steve | Jul 24, 2017 | In the News, Uncategorized
The Wesleyan Family Tree
By Kenneth C. Kinghorn (1930-2017)
John Wesley invented no new theological doctrines. “Whatever doctrine is new must be wrong,” he wrote, “and no doctrine can be right, unless it is the very same ‘which was from the beginning.’” Mr. Wesley said, “If Methodism…be a new discovery in religion…this [notion] is a grievous mistake; we pretend no such thing.” Far from being narrowly sectarian, John Wesley was a catholic Christian. He stood firmly in the mainstream of historic Christianity, and drew from many of the tributaries that fed into it.
1. Early Church Writers. John Wesley often referred to “Primitive Christianity,” that is, the Church from the end of the apostolic age to the early fourth century. Christian writers in this era helped confirm the biblical canon, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the mystery of the Incarnation, through which the eternal Christ entered time and space as fully human and fully God. Mr. Wesley said of those early, “primitive” Christians, “I reverence their writings, because they describe true, genuine Christianity….They never relinquish this: ‘What the Scripture promises, I enjoy. That the God of power and love may make you, and me, such Christians as those Fathers were, is [my] earnest prayer.’”
2. The Protestant Reformation. John Wesley was a Protestant, who believed the Medieval Church had allowed layers of nonbiblical tradition to cloud the gospel of grace. Accumulated ecclesiastical inventions compelled the sixteenth-century Reformation. The Wesleyan message harmonizes with the fundamental themes of the Protestant Reformers, who recovered the supremacy of Scripture above human conventions. The essence of Protestantism is that salvation comes through grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone. Wesley wrote, “We have all reason to expect…that [Christ] should come unto us quickly, and remove our candlestick out of its place, except we repent and…unless we return to the principles of the Reformation, the truth and simplicity of the gospel.”
3. Pietism. The Wesleyan tradition also borrows from the seventeenth-century German Pietists. Those earnest Christians championed the individual’s personal knowledge of Christ, serious discipleship, Christian witness, missions, and social ministries. Wesley referred to the Pietist August Francke as one “whose name is indeed as precious ointment. O may I follow him, as he did Christ!” From the Moravian Pietists, the early Wesleyan movement appropriated such means of grace as class meetings, conferences, vigils, and Love-feasts.
4. The Mystics. The influence of certain aspects of mysticism further reveals the catholicity of the Wesleyan message. John Wesley’s reading of Thomas à Kempis led him first to see that “true religion was seated in the heart, and that God’s law extended to all our thoughts as well as our words and actions.” Jeremy Taylor’s Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650) and Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying (1651) and William Law’s Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1728) convinced Wesley of “the exceeding height and depth and breadth of…God.” The mystics also helped Wesley understand the Christian’s privilege of knowing the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. He wrote, “The light flowed in so mightily upon my soul, that everything appeared in a new view….I was persuaded that I should be accepted of Him, and that I was even then in a state of salvation.”
5. The Puritans. The Wesleyan message also bears the influence of the Puritan divines, such as John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Richard Baxter. These prodigious writers highlighted the profound depths of grace, God’s call to purity, and living daily in the light of eternity. “Their judgment is generally deep and strong,” said John Wesley, “their sentiments just and clear, and their tracts on every head full and comprehensive, exhausting the subjects on which they write…. They are men mighty in the Scriptures, equal to any of those who went before them, and far superior to most that have followed them.”
The power of the Wesleyan witness. All valid Christian traditions preach that justification and adoption give repentant sinners a new standing, in which God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us and frees us from the guilt of sin. The Wesleyan message also emphasizes that regeneration and sanctification give us a new state, in which God imparts Christ’s righteousness to us and frees us from the power of sin.
The sources and treasures of the Wesleyan message have never been more relevant than today.
Kenneth C. Kinghorn taught Methodist history for more than 43 years at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He died on July 23, 2017. He is the author of many books including The Heritage of American Methodism and the three volume set of John Wesley’s Standard Sermons in Modern English. This article originally appeared in the January/February 2010 issue of Good News.
Art: This is a model for a proposed Wesley monument to be built at Epworth in the mid-1800s that never materialized. It was on the display at the World Methodist Museum in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. Photo by Steve Beard.
by Steve | Apr 27, 2017 | In the News, Uncategorized
To United Methodists from the Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah, Central Conference Coordinator, UMC Africa Initiative (Liberia Annual Conference), and The Rev. Evariste Kimba, Coordinator, French & Kiswahili Region, UMC Africa Initiative (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Dearly beloved,
On behalf of our global church, we wish to invite you, your local church, district, annual and provisional annual conference to join ranks with us in a season of fasting and prayer for the Judicial Council and the Council of Bishops’ Special Commission on the Way Forward as they make critical decisions that will impact the future direction of our Church. Your prayers will make a difference.
From 24th to 28th April, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church will convene for its regular meeting in New Jersey, USA. The Judicial Council is the Supreme Court of our denomination comprising of nine members from Africa, Asia, Europe and the USA. It is clothed with the responsibility, consistent with our Book of Discipline, to adjudicate cases of the church and come up with final rulings. One of the major issues to be addressed during this session of its meeting is to hand down rulings on a petition from the South Central Jurisdictional Conference which has asked the Judicial Council to rule on questions related to the election, consecration and assignment of a bishop who is in a same-sex marriage.
For the first time in the history of our Church, the Western Jurisdictional Conference, in July, 2016 elected a lesbian as bishop, Rev. Karen Oliveto, who is married to a deaconess. Since her election she has been serving as the bishop of the Mountain Sky [Episcopal Area]. This action of the Western Jurisdiction has caused many disagreements among United Methodists in the USA and globally, and it has created a sense of uncertainly about the future unity of our denomination. The Judicial Council is expected to make a decision on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Council of Bishops who will meet from 30th April to 5th May have set up a 32 member Commission to review every paragraph in the Book of Discipline on the subject of human sexuality in order to determine a way forward. That Commission is at work doing its utmost best to bring recommendations for consideration of the General Church during its meeting in 2019.
Based upon these concerns, and the times of uncertainly in which we find ourselves as a global church, we believe it is time to unite our hearts and minds in prayer to the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ, for His timely intervention in sustaining His Church. Indeed the UMC is at a crossroads (Jeremiah 6:16), and it is only the Lord that can lead us into the “paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3b).
The Lord promises, “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 will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their Land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Also, in Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord challenged his people to “call upon me in the times of trouble, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know”.
Based upon these scriptural promises, and our confidence in God’s intervention, the United Methodist Africa Initiative invites all local churches, districts, annual and provisional annual conferences of the Central Conferences of Africa in particular, and the global UMC in general, to a season of fasting and prayer, from Monday to Friday, 24th to 28th April, 2017.
At a minimum, we encourage everyone observing the fast to begin at 12:00 mid-night to 12:00 noon daily, while individual and corporate prayer sessions may be held throughout the day at your convenience. The purpose of this season of fasting and prayer is to intercede on behalf of the Judicial Council and the Commission on the Way Forward as they seek divine wisdom and scriptural guidance in their decision making process to the glory of God, and in the best interest of the global church.
We want to thank you in advance for your kind commitment to “stand in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30) on behalf of our church. “If my people…pray…I will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
For His Glory,
Rev. Dr. Jerry P. Kulah, Central Conference Coordinator, UMC Africa Initiative
Rev. Evariste K. Kimba, Coordinator, French & Kiswahili Region, UMC Africa Initiative
by Steve | Apr 24, 2017 | In the News, Uncategorized
Key questions in the Oliveto case
On July 15, 2016, during the session of the South Central Jurisdictional Conference, Dixie Brewster, a delegate and lay member of the Great Plains Annual Conference, asked that the delegates to request a declaratory decision from the Judicial Council on the following matter:
“Is the nomination, election, consecration, and/or assignment as a bishop of The United Methodist Church of a person who claims to be a ‘self-avowed practicing homosexual’ or is a spouse in a same-sex marriage lawful under The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church?”
Specifically, Brewster wanted to know how United Methodism’s standards on ordination and same-sex marriage applied to the nomination, election, consecration and/or assignment as bishop of a person who claims to be a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” or is a spouse in a same-sex marriage or civil union?
In her motion, Brewster asked some key questions:
• Does a public record that a nominee for the episcopacy is a spouse in a same-sex marriage disqualify that person from nomination, election, consecration and/or assignment as a bishop in The United Methodist Church?
• If a jurisdictional conference nominates, elects, consecrates, and /or assigns a person who, by virtue of being legally married or in a civil union under civil law to a same-sex partner, would be subject to a chargeable offense, is the action of the jurisdictional conference null and void?
• Is it lawful for one or more of the bishops of a jurisdiction to consecrate a person as bishop when the bishop-elect is known by public record to be a spouse in a same-sex marriage or civil union?
• When a bishop, district superintendent, district committee on ordained ministry, Board of Ordained Ministry, or clergy session becomes aware of or is made aware that a clergy person is a spouse in a same sex marriage or civil union of public record, does such information in effect and in fact amount to a self-avowal of the practice of homosexuality as set forth in the Discipline and related Judicial Council decisions?
The motion made by Brewster was seconded and then adopted by the South Central Jurisdictional Conference by a vote of 109 for the motion to 84 against the motion, a 56.48 percent majority.
The United Methodist Judicial Council will hear the oral arguments of the case on April 25, 2017.
To read the brief on behalf the Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops click HERE.
To read the brief on behalf of Ms. Dixie Brewster, the South Central Jurisdiction lay delegate who made the motion requesting the declaratory decision, click HERE.
To read a reply to the brief on behalf the Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops click HERE.
