You're going to see a lot of #ResurrectionSunday posts today (as you should!), so I won't be long here: The thing that sticks out the most to me as I reflect on our #RisenKing today is His enduring humility. #HappyEaster
Jesus, the death conqueror, had every right to boast in what He just accomplished (in communion with His Father and Spirit), but scripture told us that early on Sunday morning, the two Mary's went saw an empty tomb. They were told by an angel that He was risen-He was already out!
As they ran back to tell the disciples what they had been told, Matthew 28 tells us that Christ "met them and greeted them." No fanfare, no Hollywood entrance...He just met them. The book of John says that Mary Magdalene thought He was a gardener....A GARDENER!
Jesus spent the next 40 days committed to other-centered ministry: He dealt with Thomas' doubt, He restored Peter from his shame, He broke down the entirety of the Scriptures...again, and He promised His followers that they would do greater things than He did - with His Spirit.
No resurrection world tour, no big pronouncements or services - He said He would rise, so He did. The resurrected King, with all power in His hands, used them to serve. Christians must remember: The call to leadership and authority is one of stewardship that is rooted in service.
My favorite resurrection story captures this humility perfectly. It's the Walk to Emmaus found in Luke 24 - two followers of Christ, who had not heard about Christ's resurrection were distraught that Jesus had died...then Jesus appears with them, but does not reveal Himself...
He just starts walking with them and revealing the truth of the Gospel all the way until they reached Emmaus. When they reached their destination, Jesus acted as if He would keep going, but they urged Him to stay the night and have a meal.
As they sat down to eat, Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them...it wasn't until this moment that they recognized Him, and at that same moment...HE VANISHED! So unassuming, deflecting the attention and praise away from Himself - our resurrected, all-powerful, humble King.
My favorite song right now is this beautiful anthem by @rivervalleywshp called #BothSides. It's a wonderful reminder that Jesus is the King on both sides of the stone. I hope that you are blessed by it! Embrace His humility, and commit to serving others.
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There has been some chatter about whether or not we should support specific political candidates. Here is some helpful perspective...from EG White herself (source is the EG White estate). All info I’m quoting can be found here: whiteestate.org/legacy/issues-…
A local election in Battle Creek in 1859 challenged Adventists to reconsider their responsibilities as citizens in a community. They were pressed to make a more definite commitment on the subject of voting. What were they to do?
Ellen White, who was present as Adventist leaders discussed this question, made this entry in her diary: "'Attended meeting in the eve. Had quite a free, interesting meeting. After it was time to close, the subject of voting was considered and dwelt upon.
Praying that the President & First Lady, as well as Hope Hicks and others they came in contact with who have now contracted COVID—19, have a speedy recovery with limited long-term health effects.
The rest of this post will not be partisan (although it may have some political implications). COVID—19 should not be a partisan issue. I pray that this is also a reminder to everybody of just how contagious and potentially deadly this disease can be. It isn’t a hoax.
It isn’t fake news, and people who are taking safety protocols should not be shouted down or seen as “weak” because of it.
I’ve heard of pastors (even one in a local church) who have told their congregations that wearing a mask is evidence of a lack of faith.
I met @tyfgibson back in 2015. I sent him a blog that I had written (something that I am sure happens to him all the time) that was inspired by a blog he wrote entitled "The Old Covenant Brood" which was sent to me by one of @tacyanacarla's church members in Princeton, NJ.
My blog was on racism (of course, lol) and he responded with words of affirmation that I didn't even know I needed at the time. This began a personal journey for me of digging deeper into our church's historical race issues, but it was also the beginning of an amazing brotherhood
In 2016, we ended up inviting him to do a Crave seminar on the campus of Princeton University. That's when things really began to click and we knew that God was calling us to speak with a more direct voice on the issues of racism that our church has been so silent on for so long.
My heart really goes out to Masai Ujiri. All he wanted to do was celebrate a historic NBA Finals victory with the team that he constructed. In a split-second, he was reminded that in the eyes of that security guard he was nothing more than a nicely-groomed black man in a suit.
Said security guard blatantly lied about the incident forcing Masai to answer questions about whether or not he got too aggressive with the guard and deal with the familiar innuendo "what did [Masai] do to escalate the incident? he must have done something wrong."
All of this was completely unnecessary. The guard's own body camera shows Masai in the process of revealing his credential (you could already see the lanyard around his neck, it's obvious he had it on him). The guard then defrauded the county for 6-figures on a fake back injury.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” -MLK
One of the more painful and confusing dynamics that’s has reared it’s ugly head in recent months is something that I call the “oppression Olympics.” It is the idea that it is necessary to rank the severity of historical and current acts/systems of oppression...
...as if one should be considered more worthy of attention than another. I have even heard of professors who are “experts” on this history who have used their classes to make the case that certain historical examples of oppression are worse than others...