Episode #5 of “Behind the Curtain” Ministry Podcast is here! Youth pastor David Singleton and I talk about the different narratives of the white and black cultures and how this relates to the Church. We discuss the Baltimore riots, racial segregation in churches, the differences between suburban and urban youth ministry, and steps we can […]
Positioning White Privilege to Where We Actually Can Talk About it
When we hear the word “racist,” we think of KKK members, the “N-word”, or the recent comments made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. A racist is someone who doesn’t like people of other races. Typically in America it has been seen as a white person who doesn’t like black people. When the topic of white […]
Why do we talk about race at our church?
I never heard a sermon that referenced race while growing up in church. What does race have to do with people coming to know Jesus, anyway? Or what does it have to do with the Bible? When I talk about race in sermons at Crossroads, I think these are thoughts that go through the minds […]
Is the Church unified in Jesus or layers of race, ethnicity & culture?
We began a sermon series in 1 Corinthians a couple of weeks ago. Week 1 on the first chapter went off fine. I talked about how the church at Corinth was a squabbling, quarreling church and that Paul was writing this letter to them to teach them to be united Christ and to get along […]
Homogeneous Churches are Mutated (& Crippled) Bodies of Christ
I preached on the Church as the body of Christ last Sunday, using 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 as my text. It’s a familiar text and familiar metaphor to many Christians and it typically leads to one of a few quick interpretations. One being how Christians play different roles in the local church, some being good at […]
How America’s Racist Past Breeds Racial Profiling Today
I recently wrote about the racial discrimination housing laws of the 1940’s-1970’s (and I did a post on “How To Talk About Racism”). My point in showing those bits of somewhat hidden history is to help set the table for why some things are the way they are today when it comes to race. It’s […]