When We Curse Rather Than Bless

This has been another week where a lot of different threads of ideas have been weaving their way through my brain. October 16-18, Pastor Todd and I attended the Chic Shaver Center for Evangelism Conference at Olivet Nazarene University where we were poured into by other pastors, professors and laypeople. We were encouraged and challenged to share the gospel with everyone we meet.

One method of doing this is to B.L.E.S.S. others. Begin with prayer. Listen to people. Eat with people since sharing meals deepens connections. Serve others as Jesus did. Story – share our stories about what God has done for us and can do for them.

Side note: If you don’t know who Dr. Chic Shaver is, he is a small humble man who was a professor at Nazarene Seminary for 30 years. His Basic Bible Studies havesold over 750,000 copies and been translated in over 55 languages.

We missed you all last Sunday, but I listened to the service later. I was challenged again as Pastor Rob spoke of giving up our judgmental glasses so we can see others with compassionate eyes. Then I saw something this week that indicated to me why it is so important for us to see people compassionately as Jesus did, and to share the gospel so people can come to know him for themselves.

It is a chart showing how different groups of people, by their race, political party or religion (as they chose to identify themselves) who think immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the U.S. The source is a survey done by the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. (www.prri.org)

That anyone would make this kind of statement is both heartbreakingly sad and scary enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. It’s sad because it’s the complete opposite of compassionate. It’s scary because it’s the kind ugly rhetoric promoted by Hitler. I know that is a strong statement, but there is a great deal of historical evidence demonstrating how the Nazis promoted this idea. Here is one example: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/aryan-1

May God forgive us of attitudes like this.

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
– 1 John 4:20-21

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Cindy