A Year In Review

Technically I should've done this back in May. But, better late than never I suppose. I've been a pastor at my church for over a year. It's been fun, tough, challenging, eye-opening, crazy, busy, humbling, educational, nerve-wrecking, revealing, telling, good, monumental, insane, opportunistic, and ridiculously blessed.

Call me naive' but I didn't think a year made that much difference. This time last year I was a nervous wreck. This year, as we are on the eve of kicking off our new calendar year in ministry I come into it with much anticipation and direction about what's going on. Last year I literally ran around most of the time like a chicken with my head cut off. Perhaps I've underestimated the whole experience factor. My rookie year was just crazy. Probably not that unlike being a pro-football player. I really thought I knew stuff about being a pastor. I really thought I had a grasp of ministry. I really thought I had a grasp on myself even. In short my answer is "NOPE".
I forgot a lot of details (which is something I do anyway), I think all of last year was basically a trial run. I'm just glad that it didn't end up a disaster. To use a football metaphor, I threw a few touchdowns, a few interceptions, a few ill-advised passes, I was under duress, I got blitzted a few times, I got knocked down a few times, I got hurried a few times, I got confused a few times, I didn't have very good field vision. I made some mistakes. But thankfully I haven't gotten sacked.

I thank God for another year to do this. I have learned a lot about our church. I've learned a lot about ministry. I've learned a TON about myself; somehow ministry/leadership tends to expose weaknesses when I try so very hard to hide or ignore them.
I've learned that it's important to have confidence. I've learned that poise is pretty important. I've learned that things don't always go as planned. I've learned the importance of having a backbone and discernment about when to straighten it.
I've gotten to preach. I've gotten to teach. I've gotten a little wiser.
Most importantly though; I believe I've gotten closer to God.

It's our confession LORD ....

Confession.
That's what God's answer is. That is what God told me. What was the question that prompted such and answer? It was my question. It is a question that I've wondering about. The questions was "LORD what do I/ we need to do in order for YOU to pour out your spirit on us?"
Confession is a scary thing. I have to admit I was wrong. I have to admit I did something wrong. I have to admit what I did wrong and perhaps even admit to the person I've wronged. And that's just the half of why it's scary.
When I say confession, I don't mean pray and ask for God to forgive me in the privacy of my own mind. I am certain that that isn't what God meant either. I think it means to "Confess yours sins to EACH OTHER and pray for EACH OTHER so that you may be healed. The easrnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. James 5:15 NLT

Why is confession such a big deal with God? For a number of reasons I would guess. God HATES sin. To confess it is to not hold on to it but to release it. By confessing our sins we humble ourselves and stop pretending there isn't anything going on or that we are "doing good." We aren't just confessing our sin for others to know that. I think we need to be convinced of that ourselves. In a way confession helps us to see what our current state before God really is. I think confession doesn't allow sin to take root and devour us. Perhaps confession is what God meant in 1 Timothy where it says He (God) will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear,but will provide a way out for you so that you can stand up under it.
This is SOOO scary though. "God! You mean I have to air out my dirty laundry?I have to be vulnerably with people and tell them the MANY ways in which I fall short. I have to stop pretending that I've got it all together? I have to expose all of my dirty little secrets that I've been hiding for years? I can't hide anymore? OUCH!!!!"
And ouch is even an understatement.
What good could come out of that?
Well, here is an example. We have life groups at our church. I've gone to several of them and it didn't take that long for me to become disinterested in going to them. I couldn't quite articulate why until just recently. Here is the reason. We always have fairly good conversations about the Bible and theology etc. But, we never really seemed to get to know each other. It was like we'd press in a little bit more but then we'd get to the threshold of our comfort levels and we didn't get past it. It's almost like we couldn't. We weren't willing to be real with each other. After too much time of small talk, there just isn't anything to talk about. You either go deeper or go home. I probably could've and should've been willing to go deeper myself so I'm just as at fault.
Along with not letting our sin take root, I think confessing brings about unity among believers. When we stop hiding, deal with sin, and expose the darkness, there is typically no room for pride. We tend to show mercy to others, and humbly submit to one another when we don't have anything to hide behind.
As 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land."

I really sense that God wants to heal our land. I really sense that God wants to wake up the church; to REVIVE her. I really sense that God is moving among the nations and even in Milwaukee. I really sense God wants to pour out His spirit. But the thing that is largely quenching the Spirit is our pride and our lack of unity.
God has made it clear.
"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble(confess) themselves and pray(rely on God) and seek my face(Go after what God wants) and turn from their wicked ways(repent), I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land." Do you want that? Do you want God's forgiveness and healing? Who wants that? If you want it, than you know what needs to be done.

"Father help us to humble ourselves, pray, seek your face, and turn from our wicked ways."

Epic Fail

This past weekend ended with me being EXTREMELY frustrated with life and its circumstances. That may not seem like a big deal to many people but to me it is a big deal. I’m generally a happy go lucky person. I always try to have a positive outlook on life and don’t generally let things get me down for two long. But for some reason I was pretty down and out Sunday evening after coming home from church. In fact, I stayed home the whole rest of the day and didn’t really do anything in the afternoon. I didn’t answer my phone, I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. I just wanted to stay home.
I couldn’t quite figure out why I was so frustrated but on Monday when I had time to think about it, I discovered something. I feel like a failure. I feel like I’m trying to do the best I can with everything that I’m into and I feel like I’m failing miserably. On Saturday, I went to play tennis with a student/friend I sucked really badly. I couldn’t serve consistently. I couldn’t return consistently. I couldn’t rally consistently. I couldn’t even make contact with the racket consistently. In fact the only thing that was consistent about my game is that it’s wildly inconsistent. To add salt to the open wound, as we were leaving, we saw this kids playing, and they were amazing. It looked effortless for them to hit the ball back and forth where as my partner and I had been struggling; me more than him. As I was dropping my partner off at his house he and I were both feeling defeated, and he commented that he’s just tired of sucking; to which I responded so am I. FAIL. Then there is Sunday. I got up in plenty of time to eat breakfast (which I’ve been trying to do more consistently to be healthier) and get ready for church but I ended up wasting time so I didn’t eat breakfast and ended up being late to my meeting. FAIL. I made the effort to remind team members of our meeting that I was late for and when I got there only a few people were there. Later on during church some of them made lame excuses for why they weren’t there. FAIL. Some team members that were there ended up not staying the whole time for the meeting because they didn’t think they were needed so I was frustrated about that. FAIL. I didn’t do a very good job of thinking through my lesson plan for class and so it didn’t quite turn out that well. FAIL. The person I asked to lead my other Sunday school class didn’t do a very good job and ended up having to leave early because of something at home. FAIL. One leader came up to me 2 minutes before Sunday School starts and I ask if he’s coming to Sunday School ‘cuz I needed him to which he responds, “ I’m going to another church today so I can’t be there today.” I just say fine even though I’m FUMING on the inside because this particular leader has done this before. FAIL. So basically, that means that two of my really consistent and great leaders are left all by themselves with a group of kids. Although they can handle it, I feel that I’ve had to use them way too much and perhaps they are getting to the end of their rope. It’s my job to oversee these things and I’m not doing a good job at it. EPIC FAIL. No wonder I was frustrated.
That whole afternoon I just became cynical and apathetic. I just didn’t care about anything. I didn’t care that someone wanted to see me. I didn’t care that a family member needed a ride somewhere. I didn’t care that I was supposed to go to someone’s house. I didn’t care about praying. I didn’t care about anything really. I just didn’t care. It was easier to do that than to experience the hurt of my failings. I just figured, “Well I can’t do anything right so I may as well just give up and not care.” Anyone ever feel like that? Like no matter what you do or how hard you try it just seems like you can’t do anything right? That’s not a good feeling. Who wants to fail all the time? Ironically enough, I’m fairly familiar with failing. I do it regularly and have been well acquainted with it my whole life. Growing up, I rarely experienced winning anything of significance. Sure there were some wins but they were often few and far between. They usually came as a surprise and I didn’t have much time to enjoy them before failure came back to keep me company. That’s really what this job has felt like; some success but lots of failure.
Sometimes I wonder if this is my lot in life. With experiencing as much failure as I have, you’d think I was used to it by now but I have never gotten used to failing. I’m sort of an in the closet perfectionist although I fail at perfection quite often.
Playing golf I get ticked off at myself if I don’t play like Tiger Woods. In tennis I expect that I will hit the ball over the net every time and win every point. I expect that I will be just as good as Roger Federer. In bowling I expect to get a strike every time and/or pick up every spare. In ministry I expect that everything go the way that I plan it to go in my head. The problem with this is that I’m not Tiger Woods or Roger Federer. These guys literally play golf as their full time job. If I played their sport for as long, or as much as they’ve been playing it I’d probably be good at it too. I’m not Parker Bohn III (the 1st Left-handed bowler to bowl a perfect game on National TV.) so it’s really absurd to expect that from myself. I’m not God and I can’t control circumstances so it’s both crazy naïve of me to think that ministry will always go the way I want it to go. I’m not God so can’t expect to be perfect all by myself.
I fear failure. I really do. I probably fear failure more than death. To take it a step further, I REALLY don’t like failing other people. I fear it. I fear what people will say and think about it. I fear the look of disappointment on someone’s face. I fear letting people down. I dislike not being able to please everybody. It’s a tremendous pressure to face and an immense burden to bear. Here I am this perfectly imperfect being that can’t/doesn’t control all circumstances and doesn’t have a lot of experience in life with certain things. I have limited resources. I’m not omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipotent. I don’t know everything or very much of anything. I can’t read thoughts, don’t accurately anticipate outcomes, and can’t see every angle there is. Yet I still fear failure. Why is that?
I pondered that one for a while. It’s a big question. It’s an important question. After all, I’m doomed to fail again and again and again and again and again and again and again. It’s only a mature of time. Why fear something I don’t have much control over?
THE ANSWER: I put my identity in how well I do. My identity is wrapped up in my performance and so if I’m performing well I feel good and if I’m performing poorly I get upset, mad, cynical, hurt, apathetic. I get depressed. If I can’t do these things, it means that I’m not good enough and if I’m not good enough that means that I have no purpose. I take failure personally, which is why I struggle with mental toughness. Mentally tough people just keep on keeping on no matter whether they are doing well or doing poorly. So while some people can’t get over the fact that they are doing so poorly and give up, and others give up or relax (implode) while ahead, mentally tough people are steady as she goes. That’s how Tiger Woods was able to win his first green jacket by a record 12 strokes in the ’97 Masters. Anyone else probably would’ve imploded. I know I would’ve. It’s hard for me to handle success because of the pressure to continue to perform to that level. I do better as an underdog than as a top dog because I can’t handle the pressure of success. I will typically have a mental breakdown.
I write all of this because I think it’s a good thing to figure out now before I go any further in ministry. I know that I can’t please everybody. In fact, I also know that I shouldn’t even try. If I try to please everybody, I will fail. Furthermore, success seems a bit different to me now. I used to think that success would look like me preaching in a big church with thousands of people paying to come and hear me preach. I used to think that success was being asked to speak all over the U.S. and abroad and thousands following what I have to say. I used to think success was being a household name and being known as a dynamic pastor, preacher, and author. But if you look in the Bible, success seems a lot different. Jeremiah, a prophet that spent his whole life telling God’s chosen people to repent completely rejected him. The funny/scary/ironic part was that God told him that people would reject him. No one wanted to pay to hear Jeremiah preach; in fact they tried to shut him up permanently on more than one occasion. Isaiah was told to run through the streets naked for a period of time. That doesn’t sound like a modern day story of what success is. Elijah did some amazing things for God and at the end of his ministry because of what God was doing through him people wanted to kill him. In fact, he begs God to end his life of suffering so he wouldn’t have to deal with people trying to kill him anymore. Moses himself didn’t enter into the Promised Land. David still died and experienced grief beforehand at the loss of a son. Solomon tells us everything is meaningless. Hosea was told to marry a prostitute so that God could make a point. John the Baptist was beheaded. Jesus was crucified and most of his disciples were later on put to death. The apostle Paul has been to prison more times than Robert Downey Jr, and then he was beheaded. John (author of Revelation) was exiled. I think you get the point.
Obviously I’ve changed my definition of success. None of these people with the exception of Jesus were perfect. They all failed in one way or another. But, they were known as people that loved and knew God. The question I have to ask myself is, “Is that enough for me?” Is it enough to just want God? Do I want God? Do I want what God wants? Am I willing to pour out my life in service to God whether I’m destined for the plow or for the butcher? Quite the question if you ask me. What about you? Do you want what God wants? Do you want God? Does your life reflect that you want God?

Weeping

Consuming Fire by Tim Hughes

Verse 1:
There must be more than this
oh breath of God come breath within
There must be more than this
Spirit of God we wait for you
Fill us anew we pray
Fill us anew we pray

Chorus:
Consuming Fire
Fan into flame
a passion for your name
Spirit of God
fall in this place
Lord have your way
Lord have your way
with us

Verse 2:
Come like a rushing wind
Fill us with power from on high
Now set the captives free
leave us abandoned to your praise
Lord let your glory fall
Lord let your glory fall

Bridge:
Stir up in our hearts Lord, Stir up in our hearts Lord,
Stir up in our hearts Lord, a passion for your name

I was singing this song this morning and I literally started to weep. Here is why. I've been thinking a lot about my role as a pastor and what my calling is and through that I have felt this great sense of burden. I have felt very overwhelmed at the task and what God is asking of me.
I see the people of God and read about in the scriptures what is coming and I know that we aren't ready. I was weeping because I know that we really don't want God, we just say we do. But, let something bad happen to us. Let persecution come here. Let the tests and trials come and we're ready to jump ship.
I was weeping and crying out to God that he would "stir up in our hearts a passion for his name." As I was weeping and singing this song I just kept saying over and over again, "God you've gotta come. You just gotta come. You have to stir up in our hearts a passion for your name. If you don't we are finished and there won't be anymore of your people left to carry on your name. You just gotta do something. You have to pour out your spirit. You gotta do something here Lord."

That is my prayer for us as the people of God. I also pray that we would want God and what God wants. Because if we don't then we will perish. This will be prayer until God gives me something else or calls me home.
Get ready.

Don't conform but be transformed ...

I had the privelege of witnessing holy matrimony of a co-worker a few weeks ago. It was great!! It was a great service, great reception, great couple, great company. Everything was just great ... Except me.
I was depressed. I was feeling low; like a loser. I began to reflect on what I've invested my life into and really started to question whether or not it was worth it. Was it worth it to invest all of my time, energy, blood, money, doing ministry? Was all that time spent with students, or at church, or at that camp worth it? After all, here's a guy that's my same age, and he's getting married. He's got his Bachelors degree and a Master of Divinity. He has a significant other. He has his own apartment now. He's starting a new chapter in life. And what have I accomplished so far? Well I'm 27. I don't even have my Bachelor's degree. I don't have a house to call my own. I don't have a wife, and I'm not even dating anyone right now. I pretty much feel like I failure; like I don't measure up. I don't have much to show.
I felt that way for a couple of days, but then I God spoke to me through his Word. I was reading about the Israelites in Exodus 17 and here is the account:

Exodus 17
Water From the Rock
1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."
Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?"
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"

4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."

5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah [a] and Meribah [b] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

God spoke to me through this passage. The part that sticks out to me is the bold part of verse 1. The Israelites "traveled from place to place as the LORD commanded them." The background on this story of the Israelites is that God guided them out of Egypt and when I say God guided them I mean he literally guided them. He led them as a cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night and in many of the accounts it says that when the cloud/pillar of fire set out, the Israelites moved, and when it stayed still they stayed still (no matter how long). They stayed where they were for a period ranging from a few hours to a few months sometimes. When the cloud/pillar of fire left they left. God guided them!! That's exciting!! That means that where ever they were was where God wanted them to be and as long as they were following God, they were in a good place.
As I look back on my life I can be content and rest in the fact that these 27 years, God has guided me. And without a shadow of doubt I can say that where I am is where God has placed me.
The experiences I've had in my life have shaped and prepared me for what I'm doing now and what I'm doing now is preparing me for what God has for me later on in life. Whether that includes a wife, a house, a BA, MA, or PhD is all up to God!! I think of where I am right now and realize that the only reason I'm here is because of God!! I've made mistakes a long the way and some things that God was trying to teach me I have been slow to get. But here I am. I'm 27. I am healthy. I have no debt. I own my own car; it works, and the LORD provided every time I need one (5 times to be exact). I have a job even though I turned it down a few years ago because I knew it wasn't the time, and I don't have a Bachelors degree. And most importantly, I KNOW GOD!!! I KNOW GOD!! I'm not sure how many people my age can say that, but it doesn't even matter. I KNOW GOD!! I have a relationship with HIM. I talke to HIM AND HE TALKS TO ME!! HE LEADS ME!! HE USES ME!! HE'S BROUGHT ME TO WHERE I AM AND WHEN IT'S TIME TO EITHER GO SOMEWHERE ELSE OR GO HOME I'LL BE GONE!!!

Our world puts so much pressure on us to measure up to worldy standards of happiness. You graduate from high school, go to college, graduate, get married, perhaps get a masters, have kids, save up for your 401K, work a few decades, retire, and then you can be happy with money in the bank and time on your hands to do what you want to do. Even the church puts pressure on us. I can't tell you how many times I've been told that I need to finish my degree. "JUST GET THAT DEGREE DONE!!" "I NEED TO HELP YOU FIND A WIFE!" 'Do you have your eye on anyone?' I hear these messages constantly and every time I'd hear them I'd feel this immense wait to conform to the pressure and since I wasn't fitting that mold I wasn't feeling happy. I felt like a failure. But this is what the LORD says, "Do not conform any longer to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good pleasing and perfect will."

Long story short, my spirit has been lifted. I'm where I should be right now.
The other day a lady at my church told me that I need to get my degree done and find a wife. I wanted to say 'get thee behind me Satan.' Instead I just said, 'His kingdom come and his will be done, on earth and in my life as it is in heaven. AMEN!!

Intro to Sanctification

This is the introduction to sermon about Sanctification that I did a couple of weeks ago at church. I just thought I'd put it up.



The other day I was watching this you tube video that explains the process of making guitars at the Gibson guitar factory in TN. Not surprisingly it’s an intricate process and the words used to describe the process are words like designing, sawing, milling, drying, bracing, binding, constructing, shaping, gluing, buffing, and painting. There’s this guy who’s been working at the factory for nearly 20 years and his job is to cut the neck of the guitars out of pieces of wood. I was shocked to find out that he doesn’t use any type of measuring device to make sure to get the right size. He kinda just eyeballs it. There’s this other guy that buffs the guitars. How that works is, there’s this machine that has a big circular buffer head on it that rotates as the guy runs the guitar over it. You should see this guy. He does a weird dance thingy as he tries to get the guitar all shined up. It’s kinda funny to watch. Then there is a guy that strings the guitars and plays them to make sure they have the sound associated with the Gibson name. It’s no longer just any piece of wood. It’s now an instrument that just screams craftsmanship, quality, and attention to detail. And Gibson guitars are known worldwide as some of the best guitars in the world in terms of quality and sound, which is a great credit to the creator.
I’m sure by now you’re probably wondering, “where is this guy going with this? Well I’m glad you asked.
Today we’re talking about sanctification. And like guitars, there is a process to it. You may or may not know the song Sanctuary. It goes “Lord prepare me to be a Sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary for you. I’ve sung that song many times. It’s a favorite of mine. I can remember singing it a couple of months ago during a devotional time one morning. This particular time the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the song and I realized something. To say “LORD prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure, holy, tried, and true” I’m essentially opening my self up to being re-designed, sawed into pieces, milling, times of being hung to dry, being braced and bound, being reshaped, glued, buffed, painted, stretched and strung, and tested to see how everything is working. Now all of that stuff might not be too bad to a piece of wood but to me it sounds painful. And I try to avoid pain whenever I can. I think I might be allergic to it.
But, at the end of the day, the finished product is an instrument that reflects the quality, craftsmanship, and attention to detail known worldwide and is a great credit to the creator. Now it doesn’t get finished in this life. But, as Philipians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It's not a racial thing .... Actually it is!!!

"It's not a racial thing." That's what he said. That's what he said about the black kid that was wandering around semi-suspiciously during the ministry fair. According to the "HITCH" and books on interpersonal communication, 80%-90% of what people say is nonverbal communication. So it's not even about what he said. It's about what he didn't say. Here's what he didn't say. "Will, go talk to that black kid over there and find out what he's up to since you [can probably relate to him better]." Here's what he didn't say,"Will I haven't talked to that kid over there but he looks a little suspicious based on what others have said and how I am influenced by what they've said." Here's what he didn't say, "Will you're black so why don't you go over and talk to him." He didn't say those things mind you. But, I can't help but wonder if that's what he meant. That's what his body language suggested. That's what his tone suggested. That's what the look in his eyes suggested. That's what the awkwardness and sense of panic in his demeanor suggested. That's what his body language told me. After all, he pretty much pulled me out of a conversation that I was having with someone else, as if our pastor himself had passed out on the floor and I was the only one who could save him. He harped on me in his flusteredness (if that's even a word) so intervene. To his credit, he wasn't the only one. There were others of the church leadership frantically running around to make sure everyone had a close grip on their purses, money boxes, assets, valuables. You'd have thought Hurricane Katrina herself was coming our way in a matter of a few hours and we needed to prepare ourselves for the very worst!
Mind you, the kid did look a little out of place. I could see how one would possibly think he was up to no good. I'll give you that. But does that really matter all that much? Does it really? I mean, let's play worse case scenario for a minute here. Say he was up to no good? Let's say he was scoping out the joint to see what he could pilfer. If you actually go over and talk to him 3 things happen. 1) You let him know that we know he's here. 2) You have the opportunity to find out what he's about. 3) You have an opportunity to tell him what "supposedly" we're about.
Now I did see people go over and talk to him. I went over and talked to him myself. But I didn't do it for any other reason but to say hello and hopefully make him feel welcome. I wanted to strike up a conversation with him, look him in the eye, and let him know that "Hey, you're noticed and welcome." I wonder if that's the message we as a church sent to him.
Not to bring Jesus into it but I'm going to. Jesus had something similar go on. He welcomed someone into his fold that he knew was going to betray him. Let me say that again. JESUS! THE SON OF GOD! THE ONE WE CALL ALL KNOWING!! ALL POWERFUL!! MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!! He invited a guy into his midst eventhough he KNEW the guy was going to steal from. He KNEW that guy would betray him.
I was just talking today in Sunday school about giving and a kid made a comment about how when we don't give to God our resources we are stealing from God. STEALING from GOD. You remember him right! THE ONE WE CALL ALL KNOWING!! ALL POWERFUL!! MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!! We're stealing from him because all that we have is HIS anyway. I don't suppose it makes it any easier for me to teach a lesson like that and have students get it when their 'rents are doing the exact opposite (disclaimer for the offended: I don't mean every parent. It's just a general statement).
"So what are you saying Will? Should we just let him wander around and scope out our stuff? Should we invite him in to our midst eventhough we know he's going to steal from us? Should we just open our doors to anybody?" If that's what you're wondering about then you've completely missed the point of this blog entry so let me type this slowly so you can get it. Remember the beginning statement that I quoted? If you don't then refer to the first line of this entry or just re-read the title of this entry again.
It's not a racial thing ... but actually it is a racial thing. When you (meaning me) have 3 people come up to you in the span of 10 minutes telling you that you should go talk to "that guy over there" who happens to be a black person, when their lips are working perfectly fine and they are well within their rights to go talk to anyone they please, then it becomes a "racial" thing. When instead talking to him one makes assumptions based on what he looks like it begins to become a "racial" thing. When people start clutching their stuff (oh wait, I almost forgot. It's GOD's stuff. Yeah God. You remember him don't you? THE ONE WE CALL ALL KNOWING!! ALL POWERFUL!! MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH [and that includes all our stuff]!!) because a certain someone doesn't look right it becomes a "racial" thing.
I mean just imagine if you were him but you were completely innocent and just really wanted to know what everyone was doing. Just imagine you were walking around at the ministry fair and all of a sudden people start clutching their purses, wallets, etc and start looking at you funny. I would feel unwelcome if that were me. I would feel embarassed to be there. I would be annoyed. In fact I have felt that way when the same sort of thing happened to me based on what I looked like. These are feelings I would expect to feel elsewhere. Certainly not at church. So are we not supposed to make people feel welcome no matter who or what they are?
I'm speaking to myself just as well as anyone but I thought this the perfect opportunity to address an issue that in my estimation runs deep . We aren't as far a long as we think we are.