Throughout the Old Testament, God reminds His people of who they were. He often told them: “You were slaves (or aliens) in Egypt” (see Lev 23:22; Deut. 5:15; 10:17-22; 24:17-29). And while the word for slave (‘ebed) and alien (gér) are different, they were often interchangeable. If you were a gér, you were often an…
In 1883, Emma Lazarus wrote a poem about the Statue of Liberty called “The New Colossus.” Today the words of that sonnet appear on the pedestal of the monument. The Statue of Liberty stands to welcome the world with this silent cry, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,…
For nearly 25 years, my wife and I have served as pastors of Church of Living Water, in Fresno, California. When we first started attending as associate pastors, we found that there were several families in the church that had adopted children or were foster parents. We valued and appreciated their work but thought little…
Justice and injustice are more than individual acts. Justice and injustice are manifested in the mores and laws of people groups, communities and nations. Whether it applies to people groups, cities or nations, God’s concern for justice is expressed throughout the Bible. God’s justice addresses the totality of people groups, cultures, languages, and how they…
When I was a young woman, I had an unsettling experience after being invited to another church to sing. Before my solo, I began sharing thoughts about the song. Suddenly, a man came up behind me, placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me to the side. I thought this man was trying to…
Life is difficult! Those words appear at the beginning of the book, The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck. By nature, I am an optimist. It’s easy for me to see the good, even in tough circumstances. But I’ve come through a few situations lately that caused even me to say, “Life is difficult!”…
Justice is a primary theme in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation. In the earliest stage of His ministry, Jesus announced that His mission was going to be directed toward the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19). This inaugural address provided a signal that Christ’s heart would be toward the…
I remember the first time I heard someone mention the term, “the dark night of the soul,” something resonated in my Spirit. I believe everyone has experienced their own dark night of the soul at some time or another. To me, the term now has more meaning because of the beautiful lessons the dark nights…
Tuesday evening, March 19, 2019, leaders from black, white, and Hispanic churches gathered at the historic Mason Temple, the world headquarters for the Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, for a “Celebration of Reconciliation: 25th Anniversary of the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) and the Memphis Miracle. From the pulpit where…
Wow,” I said. My one-word-is-enough description was my response to what I noticed as I parked the car. I stared at vehicles covering the parking lots, people of all ages and nationalities walking in the cool December air and children ice skating outside. We were there with the crowd to attend a Christmas presentation at…
