Racism – Apprentice 2 Jesus

The work we still need to do

November 24, 2019November 24, 2019 by Dan, posted in Justice

In reading the book The End of Hunger, there was the good news combined with the challenge. The good news was that a massive amount of work has been accomplished in the past 25 years. Severe hunger is being reduced statistically. The bad news is that the last bit to go to eliminate the issue by 2030 is still costly. We can’t let up. We have to stay focused and work harder. It is easier to cut a problem in half than to eliminate it.

I thought of this as I sat in a historic black Episcopal Church in Montgomery, Alabama this week. The subject wasn’t hunger. The subject was historic and systemic racism. The subject was justice.

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Kirk Franklin, Gospel Music, and being black in Christian music

October 30, 2019October 29, 2019 by Dan, posted in Racism

Kirk Franklin gets right at the issues of race, justice, and the subtle difference between “Christian” music and “gospel” music. LISTEN.

Kirk Franklin explains his frustration with and decision to boycott the Dove Awards after his acceptance speech was edited to omit his portion mentioning racial injustice for the second time. (1/2) #FinalSoundcheck

(📹: @kirkfranklin) pic.twitter.com/PXxd3tLe9Z
— Final Soundcheck (@finalsoundcheck) October 28, 2019

Legalism is great

October 25, 2019 by Dan, posted in Bible Study

I am finding the Spirit calling me to walk a little more intentionally through the Gospel of Mark right now, so I have suspended my Daily Office reading for a season to see what the Lord wants to say to me in this gospel, which happens to be my favorite of the four.

Mark 7 is a powerful statement on legalism and prejudice.

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The sound of grief

October 18, 2019 by Dan, posted in Culture

There is a podcast I listen to on a fairly regular basis called “Pass the Mic.” It’s two younger black Christians, one working on his PhD in history and the other a pastor of a church, who reflect on theology and the issues around Black Christians in American society.

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How race became a religion

October 14, 2019October 14, 2019 by Dan, posted in Racism

I am a fan of the Holy Post podcast. Phil Vischer (Veggie Tales) has a great conversation with Skye Jethani and Christian Taylor in this episode. The first half is worth the listen (especially Christian talking about her documentary on France in WWII), but it’s the second half of the episode that is worth the listen… and, of course, challenging. Willie James Jennings is the guest and takes on racism as a religion.

I’d highly recommend his book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race.

Being anti-racist

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 by Dan, posted in Racism

It is not enough to identify racism as a problem. Too often what we do is admit there is racism, but then catch ourselves in the foolish question of just who IS and who ISN’T “a racist.” What we need to do is acknowledge racism and then combat it.

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Anti-racist

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019 by Dan, posted in Racism

I have been challenged recently by people who write on racism and friends who are people of color on this issue of racism. It is something that has weighed on me the past several years (the issue of racism) and when I moved to Alabama, I knew the Lord would keep working on me. The challenge is this: It’s not enough to simply think I’m not a racist. I need to be anti-racist.

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