The 25th commemoration of the historic \u201cMemphis Miracle\u201d occurred in March. IPHC leaders joined with the nearly 200 delegates of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) to thank God for the courage and humility demonstrated by Pentecostal leaders in 1994. I was honored to represent the IPHC there.<\/p>\n
One of the key leaders of the historic event was the late IPHC Bishop B.E. Underwood.<\/p>\n
(You can read more about the 1994 event here).<\/p>\n
The celebration was held at the historic Mason Temple, the headquarters church of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Memphis, Tennessee. The largest Pentecostal denomination in the USA, COGIC\u2019s roots go back to the Azusa Street revival.<\/p>\n
G.B. Cashwell, who was responsible for leading the IPHC family tree into Pentecost, met with COGIC founder Charles Mason. One of the notable aspects of Cashwell\u2019s ministry was his recognition that the Spirit\u2019s work at Azusa Street was a divine interruption into the racial divisions that have marked the USA since the 17th century.<\/p>\n
During the service at Mason Temple on March 19, COGIC Presiding Bishop Charles Blake observed that during the Civil Rights era few white Pentecostals stood with blacks as they marched for full inclusion in American life. It was a sad moment as Blake, speaking the truth in love, mentioned that Jews, Methodists, and others stood with them, but his own Pentecostal brothers were absent.<\/p>\n
I am careful to not be too harsh on that earlier generation. In our own time, we struggle to know what to say and do. Publicly standing for justice is never easy. That\u2019s because justice is so often mixed with cultural and political dynamics.<\/p>\n
We worry that taking public stances will divide our churches; we worry that public issues will become more important than evangelism; we worry that we will be criticized and even rejected (all three not without merit).<\/p>\n
But there are times when standing for righteousness and justice are worth the costs. Then, and now, are such times. Bishop Blake spoke the truth in love about Pentecostal failures since Azusa Street, and his words have left me asking myself about the needed courage and wisdom for our times.<\/p>\n
On that Tuesday night in Mason Temple, I was granted a few minutes to speak behind the same pulpit that the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood when he preached his last message on Wednesday night, April 3, 1968. As I prepared my remarks, the Holy Spirit led me on a personal journey reminding me of different places where my heart, my thinking, and my actions were challenged. So, what follows below is a portion of the prepared remarks I gave in Memphis.<\/p>\n
“We, as Pentecostals, have been on a journey since 1994. For most of us, that journey goes even further and includes personal vignettes as well as our corporate experience.<\/p>\n
In early March 1965, as a teenager in Georgia, I watched on television the violent response to the march in Selma, Alabama, that occurred 54 years ago on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965.<\/p>\n
Two more marches occurred that month, including the third on March 21, causing us to remember this significant event while we are here in Memphis. As a teenager, I was angered and grieved by what I saw of the violent racist attacks.<\/p>\n
Little did I know that in 1985, the 20th commemoration of the March, I would be a U.S. Army Reserve Chaplain in a convoy returning from annual training in Mississippi to Georgia in the middle of the traffic commemorating the March over the Selma bridge. I remember our African American soldiers, in uniform serving our nation, being cursed at and mocked by crowds of angry whites, with law enforcement sneering as they stood idly by. Again, I was angered and grieved by what I saw and heard and that such racist anger remained.<\/p>\n
Responding to the obvious injustices was easy. What I didn\u2019t know was how blind I remained to the hidden and subtle injustices that continue to plague us.<\/p>\n
Not until a few years ago in a conference at the National Association of Evangelicals in Washington, DC did I learn of the systemic redlining of African American communities by banking institutions, intentionally denying them the services that most of us take for granted.<\/p>\n
Not until a couple of years ago, through Christian Churches Together, did I learn that \u201cthe talk\u201d with our teenagers means something very different from white and black families. For most white families it\u2019s about the birds and the bees with our teenage children. For black families, it\u2019s about what you do when stopped by the police.<\/p>\n
A year ago, I learned from African Americans that this year, 2019, they are remembering the quad centennial of the first blacks coming to the English colony of Jamestown in 1619. I would have not made that connection on my own. I needed to be taught.<\/p>\n
And even recently, with a PCCNA race relations resolution, it took me time to connect racism with poverty. While poverty affects people regardless of the race, it took me time to comprehend that racism exacerbates poverty in ways I did not understand.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, my colleagues at PCCNA quickly joined me in correcting an earlier statement in which I had ignorantly separated the two issues. It was corrected by instruction.<\/p>\n
As Jesus touched a blind man twice, I am aware I need Jesus to touch me many times so that I can see my brothers and sisters as He sees them, and we all can see better as Spirit-filled followers of Jesus. The journey continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,305,1],"tags":[618,61,46,37,712,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-3655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-encourage-magazine","9":"category-general","10":"tag-618","11":"tag-april","12":"tag-doug-beacham","13":"tag-encourage","14":"tag-end-racism","15":"tag-iphc","16":"entry"},"title_es":"Tenemos m\u00e1s trabajo que hacer para TERMINAR EL RACISMO","content_es":"La conmemoraci\u00f3n n\u00famero 25 del hist\u00f3rico "Memphis Miracle" ocurri\u00f3 en marzo. Los l\u00edderes de la IPHC se unieron a los casi 200 delegados de las Iglesias pentecostales y carism\u00e1ticas de Am\u00e9rica del Norte (PCCNA) para agradecer a Dios por el valor y la humildad demostrada por los l\u00edderes pentecostales en 1994. Me sent\u00ed honrado de representar a la IPHC all\u00ed. Uno de los l\u00edderes clave del evento hist\u00f3rico fue el fallecido Obispo BE Underwood de la IPHC. (Puedes leer m\u00e1s sobre el evento de 1994 aqu\u00ed). La celebraci\u00f3n se llev\u00f3 a cabo en el hist\u00f3rico Templo Mason, la sede de la iglesia de la Iglesia de Dios en Cristo (COGIC) en Memphis, Tennessee. La mayor denominaci\u00f3n pentecostal en los EE. UU., Las ra\u00edces de COGIC se remontan al renacimiento de la calle Azusa. GB Cashwell, responsable de llevar el \u00e1rbol geneal\u00f3gico de IPHC a Pentecost\u00e9s, se reuni\u00f3 con el fundador de COGIC, Charles Mason. Uno de los aspectos notables del ministerio de Cashwell fue su reconocimiento de que el trabajo del Spirit en la calle Azusa fue una interrupci\u00f3n divina en las divisiones raciales que han marcado a los EE. UU. Desde el siglo XVII. Durante el servicio en Mason Temple el 19 de marzo, el obispo presidente de COGIC, Charles Blake, observ\u00f3 que durante la era de los Derechos Civiles, pocos pentecostales blancos se alzaban con negros mientras marchaban por su plena inclusi\u00f3n en la vida estadounidense. Fue un momento triste cuando Blake, hablando la verdad con amor, mencion\u00f3 que los jud\u00edos, los metodistas y otros estaban con ellos, pero sus propios hermanos pentecostales estaban ausentes. Tengo cuidado de no ser demasiado duro con esa generaci\u00f3n anterior. En nuestro tiempo, luchamos para saber qu\u00e9 decir y hacer. Defender p\u00fablicamente la justicia nunca es f\u00e1cil. Eso es porque la justicia a menudo se mezcla con din\u00e1micas culturales y pol\u00edticas. Nos preocupa que tomar posiciones p\u00fablicas dividir\u00e1 a nuestras iglesias; nos preocupa que los asuntos p\u00fablicos sean m\u00e1s importantes que el evangelismo; nos preocupa que seamos criticados e incluso rechazados (los tres no carecen de m\u00e9rito). Pero hay ocasiones en las que valerse la pena valerse de la justicia y la justicia. Entonces, y ahora, son tales tiempos. El obispo Blake dijo la verdad en el amor sobre los fracasos pentecostales desde la calle Azusa, y sus palabras me han dejado pregunt\u00e1ndome sobre el valor y la sabidur\u00eda necesarios para nuestros tiempos. Ese martes por la noche en Mason Temple, me concedieron unos minutos para hablar detr\u00e1s del mismo p\u00falpito que el difunto Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., predic\u00f3 su \u00faltimo mensaje el mi\u00e9rcoles por la noche, el 3 de abril de 1968. Prepar\u00e9 mis comentarios, el Esp\u00edritu Santo me gui\u00f3 en un viaje personal que me record\u00f3 los diferentes lugares donde mi coraz\u00f3n, mi pensamiento y mis acciones fueron desafiados. Entonces, lo que sigue a continuaci\u00f3n es una parte de los comentarios preparados que hice en Memphis. "Nosotros, como Pentecostales, hemos estado en un viaje desde 1994. Para la mayor\u00eda de nosotros, ese viaje va a\u00fan m\u00e1s all\u00e1 e incluye vi\u00f1etas personales, as\u00ed como nuestra experiencia corporativa. A principios de marzo de 1965, cuando era un adolescente en Georgia, lo vi en la televisi\u00f3n. la violenta respuesta a la marcha en Selma, Alabama, que ocurri\u00f3 hace 54 a\u00f1os el domingo sangriento, 7 de marzo de 1965. Ese mes se produjeron dos marchas m\u00e1s, incluida la tercera el 21 de marzo, que nos hizo recordar este evento significativo mientras estamos aqu\u00ed. En Memphis. Cuando era adolescente, me enoj\u00e9 y me entristec\u00ed por lo que vi de los violentos ataques racistas. Poco sab\u00eda que en 1985, en la vig\u00e9sima conmemoraci\u00f3n de la Marcha, ser\u00eda un capell\u00e1n de la Reserva del Ej\u00e9rcito de EE. UU. entrenamiento anual en Mississippi a Georgia en medio del tr\u00e1fico que conmemora la Marcha sobre el puente Selma. Recuerdo a nuestros soldados afroamericanos, uniformados al servicio de nuestra naci\u00f3n, maldecidos y burlados por multitudes de blancos enojados, con la ley desmitificando una Se quedaron sin hacer nada. Una vez m\u00e1s, me enoj\u00e9 y me entristec\u00ed por lo que vi y escuch\u00e9 y que esa ira racista se mantuvo. Responder a las obvias injusticias fue f\u00e1cil. Lo que no sab\u00eda era cu\u00e1n ciego me qued\u00e9 ante las sutiles y ocultas injusticias que nos siguen afectando. Hasta hace unos a\u00f1os, en una conferencia en la Asociaci\u00f3n Nacional de Evang\u00e9licos en Washington, DC, me enter\u00e9 de la redistribuci\u00f3n sist\u00e9mica de las comunidades afroamericanas por parte de instituciones bancarias, neg\u00e1ndoles intencionalmente los servicios que la mayor\u00eda de nosotros damos por sentado. No fue hasta hace un par de a\u00f1os, a trav\u00e9s de Iglesias Cristianas Juntas, que aprend\u00ed que "hablar" con nuestros adolescentes significa algo muy diferente a las familias blancas y negras. Para la mayor\u00eda de las familias blancas se trata de las aves y las abejas con nuestros hijos adolescentes. Para las familias negras, se trata de lo que haces cuando la polic\u00eda te detiene. Hace un a\u00f1o, aprend\u00ed de los afroamericanos que este a\u00f1o, 2019, est\u00e1n recordando el primer centenario de los primeros negros que vinieron a la colonia inglesa de Jamestown en 1619. No habr\u00eda hecho esa conexi\u00f3n por mi cuenta. Necesitaba que me ense\u00f1aran. E incluso recientemente, con una resoluci\u00f3n de relaciones raciales de PCCNA, me tom\u00f3 tiempo conectar el racismo con la pobreza. Si bien la pobreza afecta a las personas independientemente de la raza, me tom\u00f3 tiempo comprender que el racismo exacerba la pobreza en formas que no entend\u00eda. Afortunadamente, mis colegas de PCCNA se unieron r\u00e1pidamente a m\u00ed para corregir una declaraci\u00f3n anterior en la que, por ignorancia, hab\u00eda separado los dos problemas. Fue corregido por instrucci\u00f3n. Cuando Jes\u00fas toc\u00f3 a un ciego dos veces, soy consciente de que necesito que Jes\u00fas me toque muchas veces para poder ver a mis hermanos y hermanas como \u00c9l los ve, y todos podemos ver mejor como seguidores de Jes\u00fas llenos del Esp\u00edritu. El viaje contin\u00faa.","author_name":"Dr. Doug Beacham","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/04\/Doug-Beacham.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-WX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}