You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2008.
Here’s a great interview with Adrian Warnock and Ed Stetzer. Ed brilliantly points out two different camps that we see in evangelical Christendom today: the ‘theologically minded’ and the ‘evangelistically effective’. Many see these streams as mutually exclusive. But according to Ed, ‘he wants it all’… and makes a great case for becoming biblically faithful AND culturally relevant.
Orginally published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 7:03 AM
by Todd Rhoades
George Gregory, who has been a part of King’s Park International Church in Raleigh N.C. for the past ten years will be working with Ron Lewis and the Morningstar New York church on their multi site church strategy and spearheading the effort to start a new church “campus” in Harlem.
If you are moving to New York or currently live there and are interested in getting involved be sure to contact Pastor George at george.gregory@kpic.org. He and his family plan to move to Harlem within the next couple months and I am sure would be glad to hear from anyone interested in helping! You could also check out Pastor George’s Blog. (Pictured to the left are Pastor George and I at the 103 HBCU Conference this past week.)
I frequently hear or read interesting quotes that are worth sharing. Here is one I heard in a recent sermon.
“Yesterday is the past. Tomorrow is the future. Today is a gift – That’s why they call it the present.” (Bill Keen)
Earlier this week I was in Nashville co-hosting an Every Nation collegiate conference. The 103 Conference put on by AARM (African American Resource Ministry) attempted to bring together students from today’s 103 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs for short.
Historically Black Colleges sprouted up all around the U.S. but mostly in the South during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They came as a solution within the African community to Jim Crow laws the disenfranchisement of Black Americans from participation in other opportunities for Higher Education. HBCUs have since developed a reputation for producing high quality results with limited resources. To this day HBCUs across America are still producing top quality journalists, entrepreneurs, educators and a plethora of other leaders.
Noteworthy HBCU Graduates include Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Keenan Ivory Wayans and Martin Luther King Jr. to name just a few. For a more extensive list of famous graduates you can find one here.
While there is much work to be done on all fronts of campus ministry and outreach but the HBCUs are largely untouched by campus ministry efforts. These campuses are the most strategic and accessible bridges towards both the inner city and African nations.
As we reach students on the HBCUs of America my hope is that we will have the grace to raise up a movement of men and women with integrity with minds renewed by the Word and hearts empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring a holy transformation to our society and laborers for the foreign lands.
Thanks to Pastor Shino and all those who helped make this conference happen. This was a first ever of what we intend to be an annual conference. If you missed it this year, mark it on your calendar for next year! It was powerful.
While on our honeymoon, my wife Katie and I visited many interesting places.
(“My wife!”…I’m still getting used to saying that, but it is pretty stinkin’ cool!)
One of the places we visited was Savannah, GA. It is a really fascinating historic city dating back to the 18th century. That’s pretty amazing because it’s pretty old compared to almost anything other than St. Augustine here in Florida.
Our time there was a blast, and I thought I would take a few blog posts to tell you about it (don’t worry, i’ll keep it G rated.)
Among the historical sites that we saw was the First African Baptist Church. This is the oldest church in America built by slaves for slaves. It almost goes without saying, but it is just appalling how the slave owners claimed to be Christian while at the same time enslaving others also made in God’s image for their own personal gain. Sadly, this is the troubled history of our land.
The slave owners there in Savannah allowed their slaves, after working on the plantations all day, to do whatever they wanted during the night. Despite the hypocritical example portrayed by the slave masters’ example of Christianity, many of these slaves were genuine followers of Christ. They worked all night doing the hard manual labor of carrying up stones from the river to build their own church. This church later became a major stop in the underground railroad and helped many Blacks not only to know Christ as their Savior and Lord, but also helped also bring them closer towards freedom in this life.
By far the most inspiring and amazing sight at the church were the patterns of holes in the floor of the church basement. The slaves told their masters that these were “African prayer symbols” but in reality these were air holes for the runaway slaves hidden under the flooring! The legacy of vibrant faith in the Black church is a long and magnificent one.
My prayer for the African-American church is that the best is yet to come.
