Some mornings I wake up and realize, “Oh! It’s a blog day!” And, I’m a bit surprised that it has already rolled around…
I’m not a slave to publishing (as in, I don’t think I have to just because it’s a Tuesday or a Thursday), but it has been my goal to be consistent, when possible.
It has also been my goal to only write when I feel like the Lord has impressed something on me.
And, so it is this morning…it’s a blog day…and the impression from the Lord over the last, oh, so many days, is brief.
It won’t take me long to share this random thought…or, you long to read it.
Last Thursday, a former co-worker stopped through with his precious family, on their way to vacation elsewhere in Colorado. We talked about recent events, and I wondered how they would address some of these issues, one day, within their multi-ethnic family. Are there mentors available, who have walked the journey ahead of them, who can advise? Did the adoption agency recommend resources that might help them navigate the discussions that will be sure to come as their children age?
We discussed a few books we’d both read, and found helpful… I offered one that I’d read, which might inform some more… And, they shared an EXCELLENT, 54-minute, You Tube message (from one year ago!), which Bay and I watched on Sunday (I posted the link on Facebook, but will also post it here: Racial Reconciliation, with Voddie Baucham).
But the one piece of the conversation that jumped out at me were these words: “There are just SO MANY VOICES out there, we want to make sure we’re listening to the best and the wisest. We don’t have time to sift through them all. Therefore, we are being cautious and careful… (emphasis mine)”
THERE ARE! SO! MANY! VOICES!
True that!
Every morning, as I quickly peruse social media, a few news outlets, and look at a few You Tube videos from channels I subscribe to, I am realizing how true.
Every one wants a voice.
So many consider themselves experts.
Too many want to be heard and DEEMED RIGHT (and, here I am being just one more voice clamoring amidst the masses)…
Dr. Baucham had so many good things to say, but oh, how my heart soared to hear him say this: “Today, it seems we are developing a new hermeneutic. A new canon is emerging. We say read ‘this book and you will understand better’… Somehow, we’ve let sociology and psychology dictate our theology. But the Bible is not just inherent, it is sufficient in faith and practice… We look FIRST to its text.”
Yes! Let Scripture inform our sociology. Please, allow it to inform our psychology! Obviously, it better be the basis of our theology!
As followers of Jesus, His word is not antiquated.
THE WORD OF GOD STANDS TIMELESS!
And there, in the midst of that Holy Love Letter, is the direction we need for living life…
For crossing ethnic barriers…
For living in the achieved reconciliation purchased for ALL of the human race (one race!) on Calvary…
As I pondered the words my friends spoke, and listened to the message I just mentioned, I was reminded of the words of one of God’s prophets, which I read several weeks ago… This lesser known prophet named, Micaiah, called to advise Ahab, is told that all the King’s advisors have spoken favorably to the King; but, brave Micaiah makes this statement:
“As the Lord lives, I will only say whatever the Lord says to me…”
1 Kings 22:14
Oh that, in these days, we are careful to only speak that which the Lord speaks, not putting words in His mouth… And, may the opposite be true as well, that we only seek to listen, and respond to, that which the Lord’s voice would first say to us, as He informs us how to live as He desires…according to His good and perfect will.
And, by we….I most definitely mean, me!!!!!!