Black & White
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].
My dear friends,
I write this blog at a very difficult time in this nation and in our own individual lives. Our nation is being being riveted with riots and destruction over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. George Floyd's death was nothing more than an act of evil and a crime against the very sanctity of life given to each of us by God. After Mr. Floyd's death many took to the streets to protest his death and demand justice in his name. This is exactly what the citizens of the United States is supposed to do in a time when there is an injustice committed by our governing authorities. Then evil stepped in again and turned peaceful protests into destruction, death, and mayhem. The evil that has run rampant on our streets has brought suffering to more innocent human beings. More lives have been lost and the destruction in our cities is bringing more suffering to innocent people. We are losing more and more of our humanity each day this continues. It is affecting each and every one of us whether or not we are directly involved or watching it on television. What do we do?
When I very first started in the ministry I was under the misguided understanding that everything was black & white. I thought there was only a right and wrong and I did not understand there were gray areas. As I have gotten older and more experienced in my own faith journey I have learned that life is balanced in the gray area. If you focus on just the black or just the white everything becomes tilted and only brings harm to the other side. I have come to call the gray area God's Sufficient Grace. There are so many life experiences that will thrust us to one side or the other. When our lives become unbalanced it is because we are reacting on our own power and not in the power of God. It is like the Bible verse said, in my weakness, God makes me strong. I need some sufficient Grace right now.
As a pastor I struggle with the world's events that are taking place. I struggle with the prejudices and racism that rises up in the human nature. I struggle with all of the hurt and need in my community being compounded and multiplied by the current events. Don't let me forget the COVID 19 virus as well. I struggle with my own words and actions because I know that now people look to me for spiritual guidance and I want to help and not add to the harm. I am struggling just as you are and I want you to know I am there with you.
I wish the answer to all of this was Black & White. It is not. I do know the answer is found in the center of God's Sufficient Grace. God knows our worries, He knows our fears, and He cries with us during these ugly times. No matter what you are experiencing right now I want you to know that God is with you and that God loves you! Keep the faith. Center yourself in the gray area and cling to God's grace and peace. Let God take all of the things that makes us weak and turn them into victory for God's glory and our own transformation. Seek God like you have never sought Him before. Pray harder than you have ever prayed before. Purposefully decide in your heart that you will stand with God and push back against all of the evil of this world. We need to do this not just for our own sake but for the sake of humanity.
Pastor Tommy
9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].
My dear friends,
I write this blog at a very difficult time in this nation and in our own individual lives. Our nation is being being riveted with riots and destruction over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. George Floyd's death was nothing more than an act of evil and a crime against the very sanctity of life given to each of us by God. After Mr. Floyd's death many took to the streets to protest his death and demand justice in his name. This is exactly what the citizens of the United States is supposed to do in a time when there is an injustice committed by our governing authorities. Then evil stepped in again and turned peaceful protests into destruction, death, and mayhem. The evil that has run rampant on our streets has brought suffering to more innocent human beings. More lives have been lost and the destruction in our cities is bringing more suffering to innocent people. We are losing more and more of our humanity each day this continues. It is affecting each and every one of us whether or not we are directly involved or watching it on television. What do we do?
When I very first started in the ministry I was under the misguided understanding that everything was black & white. I thought there was only a right and wrong and I did not understand there were gray areas. As I have gotten older and more experienced in my own faith journey I have learned that life is balanced in the gray area. If you focus on just the black or just the white everything becomes tilted and only brings harm to the other side. I have come to call the gray area God's Sufficient Grace. There are so many life experiences that will thrust us to one side or the other. When our lives become unbalanced it is because we are reacting on our own power and not in the power of God. It is like the Bible verse said, in my weakness, God makes me strong. I need some sufficient Grace right now.
As a pastor I struggle with the world's events that are taking place. I struggle with the prejudices and racism that rises up in the human nature. I struggle with all of the hurt and need in my community being compounded and multiplied by the current events. Don't let me forget the COVID 19 virus as well. I struggle with my own words and actions because I know that now people look to me for spiritual guidance and I want to help and not add to the harm. I am struggling just as you are and I want you to know I am there with you.
I wish the answer to all of this was Black & White. It is not. I do know the answer is found in the center of God's Sufficient Grace. God knows our worries, He knows our fears, and He cries with us during these ugly times. No matter what you are experiencing right now I want you to know that God is with you and that God loves you! Keep the faith. Center yourself in the gray area and cling to God's grace and peace. Let God take all of the things that makes us weak and turn them into victory for God's glory and our own transformation. Seek God like you have never sought Him before. Pray harder than you have ever prayed before. Purposefully decide in your heart that you will stand with God and push back against all of the evil of this world. We need to do this not just for our own sake but for the sake of humanity.
Pastor Tommy
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