Hands High

Just when you think we're getting past it...
We're going right back at it 
Like a nightmare that you thought was gone
It reappears like it was magic
Is this travesty an act of a miscarriage of justice
Or just a knee-jerk reaction to distrust
A system never meant to protect us?

It's us against them...
But is it "us" or is it "them"?!
'Cause sometimes I'm Trayvon...
Sometimes I'm Mike...
Sometimes I'm Zimmerman...
Sometimes I'm Wilson...

At times I'm Malvo
Ducked low in a blue Chevy Caprice
Manipulated by my own kind
To go a pick up a piece

Our peace of mind is assailed
In a hail of bullets 
Another young one in ground
Never knowing life to the fullest
And foolspeak that follows
In the aftermath of a disaster -

How exactly should a native son 
Get over the fact
That he's being treated 
Like a bastard?

They tell me that my views
Are from another time and place
Yet I'm the same color...
In the same country...
And it's still all about race

And unless the Lord's grace intervenes
We'll never make it to the finish
Of a long-running history
That never seems to diminish

Remember: the anger of men 
Will never produce godly righteousness
But the righteousness of Christ 
Is the only reason I fight for this -
Liberty and justice 
From a corruptness
That has plagued us 
In his absence;
From rulers that wield the sword in vain
To the masses that give way to the malice

He drank from wrath's chalice
And took on the sins of Adam
So those who bear the mark of Cain
Can one day enter the heavenly palace

A King's dream finally realized
"One Nation Under God" reimagined
Guns down and hands high
As the final enemy is moving backwards

"Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:5-7 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Trafficking the Girl Next Door

During the 1980s, mothers used the phrase "stranger danger" to caution their children about the possibility of kidnappings. It was the idea of seeing your missing child's photo on the side of a milk carton that caused many U.S. families to warn their kids about abductions. The possibility of human trafficking wasn't even on most parents' radar screen.

Yet during the same time period, a 13-year-old Miami girl became one of the countless children to fall prey to a sex trafficking scheme. Only in recent years have U.S. officials realized the trend is just as alarming at home as it is abroad. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking ranks second only to drug trafficking as the fastest growing criminal industry worldwide. And half of those trafficked are children.
In 1985, Katariina Rosenblatt, her teenage brother, and their mother left their South Florida home to escape Kat's abusive father. Katariina's mother was trying to hold down a job while caring for her children. The family lived out of a Miami Beach hotel, where the kids spent most days unsupervised at the swimming pool. There, Katariina was approached by Mary, a sophisticated 19-year-old who took an interest in the young teen. "She was everything I thought I wanted to be," Katariina says. "Thin, pretty, blond hair, and blue eyes."
The sexual, verbal, and physical abuse Katariina had endured from her father left her damaged and vulnerable, a weakness Mary quickly sensed. Offering her friendship and sisterly advice, Mary began telling Katariina about local men who would take care of her, give her money for food, and offer fatherly love. In reality, Mary was a recruiter for a local child trafficking ring.
"The devil doesn't come with a pitchfork," Katariina says. "He's much more deceptive. For me, he came in the form of a girl in a red bikini."
Led by Mary, Katariina soon found herself sequestered in a room with a 65-year-old man who attempted to purchase her, still a virgin, for $550. Refusing the marijuana she was offered, Katariina narrowly escaped the exchange and fled back to her hotel room. It was the first in a series of trafficking scenarios she would face as a young teen, and the only one she would manage to escape unscathed.

 God's Whispers

 In the following years Katariina became ensnared in a series of trafficking exchanges, all unbeknownst to her mother. In one instance, she went to a sleepover at a friend's whose father was a pedophile and worked as a trafficker. Katariina was taken to an apartment-style brothel in a neighboring county and exploited by a 40-year-old man who fostered her cocaine addiction and began making her dependent on him and the future men who would exploit her in exchange for drugs, food, and temporary affection.
Continued...

via todayschristianwoman.com

Zeros & Ones: Gospel In Life [Week 7] - Justice (A people for others)

Many people get the Gospel wrong when they believe that their salvation is based on their repentance. Your repentance will never make up for your sins. In actuality, true repentance unto life is the acknowledgment of our utter guilt of sin and the justice that was served on Another in our stead...Repentance is the first fruit of good works.

(cf. Proverbs 28:5, 29:26; Isaiah 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Monster

Physically disturbed to see you standing there at my door

Ready and willing to take more of what I don't have left

A soul, a will; something of value I need

Yet to you, it's all the same: you cut, I bleed

From head to toe, I've given every bit, inch by inch

Over time I thought this would prove itself to be well spent

Rent all to hell without a thing to show

Miles and miles of life

Eroding beneath the blood-stained footprints on the floor

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

- (Colossians 3:19 ESV)

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Walking While Black (Death In a Florida Suburb)

This is 2012, not 1962
But you’d be hard pressed to believe that
After hearin’ what it’s come to;
Walking while black
Meets unwarranted frustrations
Masquerading as vigilance
And shaking us to the roots as a nation

Old wounds run deep
Hatred ain’t sacred – it sees no color
Having Obama in office,
You may think would make it calmer
But unless you’ve been asleep
You know that it’s still very possible
To die for being a “brotha”
Skittles in tote, talking to your girl
In the cool of a Florida day
Then an SUV pulls up hot
‘Cause you ain’t gettin’ away with it…no doubt
One to the chest
Young life, snuffed out…

Now, you don’t have to be in the ‘hood
To have your peace disturbed
This ain’t Compton or Dade County
This is straight outta the suburbs
You heard me?!
Justice system failin’ ‘em
Freed the guy for nailin’ ‘em
Showed a blatant disregard to protect and serve
And label the victim as the assailant
It feels like a long time since
The days of civil rights and Jim Crow
It seems a million miles away
But we still have a long way to go

By that, I mean it’s too easy to point to the past
And make “White America” hold the ledger
Hey, the first time I was called a “nigga”
It rolled off the tongue of a six year old Latina –
So I know better

This ain’t about black and white
This thing is life on life
Good v. Evil, and death stealin’ youth
Like a thief in the night
So if you feel like I do
And you’re lookin’ for a fight
Then turn your anger inward
And rage against the dying of the light
Fight the good fight
Don’t let your hearts grow dimmer
“Street Justice” accomplishes nothin’
(Just another coward pullin’ the trigger)
Believe me, there will come a day
When recompense is made
And God don’t sleep
So I rest assured in justice
Never holding on to hate
Love has gotta be stronger than our fear
That there’s no end in sight
So, even amidst the travesty
That we all now bemoan
I know that this too shall be made right


For Trayvon Martin.


"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place..."  

- (Acts 17:26 ESV)

"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body."  - 

(Hebrews 13:3 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Truly Overcoming: Putting Grace Before Race (Revisited)

I originally posted this a few years ago. I'm reposting this, due to the fact that I still think that it contains some things of first importance that need to be said. In a nation that has witnessed the inaguration of the first black president of the United States, there is even more of a reason to keep these things before us. As a Christian first and an African-American second, there is a burden on my heart to speak plainly and clearly about what it means to truly overcome the sins in our society. Using the Word of God and a long forgotten figure in the history of Black America, I seek to accomplish this task. Regardless of race, I pray that all who read are challenged, convicted and encouraged.
Soli Deo Gloria...

'Twas mercy that brought me from my pagan land
Taught my benighted soul to understand 
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew
Some view our race with scornful eye,
'Their color is a diabolical dye'
Remember, Christians; Negros, black as Cain
May be refined and join th' angelic train.

-On Being Brought from Africa to America, by Phyllis Wheatley (America's First Black Poet)


In light of our most recent holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) and with Black History month speedily approaching, there's no better time than the present to reflect upon the struggles and accomplishments of African-American people in this country, right? However, in our reflections, sometimes perspective gets lost in the spirit of the chase. We tend to take mantras such as "We Shall Overcome" and "Free At Last" and we rob them of their glory by our shortsightedness. This is why I find it appropriate to reflect on Ms. Wheatley's 'On Being Brought from Africa'. This poem's primary focus is on the overarching sovereignty and purposefulness of God in all of life.


Wheatley says that it was 'mercy' that brought her from her 'pagan' land. She was kidnapped and brought to America on a slave ship when she was about seven years old. Yet, she calls it mercy. Today, this statement may be seen, even in the Christian community, as controversial. Yet to Wheatley, this is a good thing because it brought her to salvation, despite the means that were used to attain it. After all, as she states, it was by this act that her 'benighted' soul was taught 'that there's a God and a Saviour too'. In her biography it states that she was bought by a Boston family that took her in as one of their own and taught how to read and write (Greek and Latin as well), and even more particularly taught her in the way of Scripture. Wheatley, in her reflection upon the events of her life, clearly connects the dots for us. She is well aware that if not for the Hand of Providence putting her on that ship to America, she never comes in contact with the Wheatley family. If she never meets the Wheatleys, she never hears of God or Jesus Christ. This theme of sovereign mercy is unrelenting, even as it turns to the social tensions of her day.


Many saw blacks as being sub-human and evil because of their native ways and skin tone. Wheatley does not shy away from this at all as she recalls:


"Some view our race with scornful eye, 'Their color is a diabolical dye'."




Now, take note of her admonition in the final stanzas:


"Remember, Christians; Negros, black as Cain, may be refined and join th' angelic train."


Notice that the petition is not to all of "white America” or even to the government. Her appeal is to the Christians; Wheatley's primary concern for her fellow Africans is not emancipation, but evangelization. Wheatley understands that the only way for them to be truly free is through the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross. Even as she herself was freed by her family, in the legal sense, all other forms of freedom are subordinate and secondary when it comes to the liberation of the soul through the Gospel. The reference to Cain helps to drive this point home. Cain was "marked" and "blackened" as punishment for the murder of his brother, Abel. Yet, while this was a curse, it was also God's way of showing mercy towards Cain, as it would protect him from the same fate that he had dealt to his brother. If anyone is to murder Cain their punishment will be sevenfold. The color of his skin gives him a chance for redemption; to repent of his sins and find peace with God, with whom, at the moment, he is at enmity (sadly, he does not). Wheatly, being a student of the Bible is well aware of what this imagery conjures up with the Christian family. She is appealing not just to the darkness of Cain's skin, but to the greater darkness of his heart, which is the way of all men who have never encountered Christ. While true that Africans had been "marked" for slavery by the whites due to the color of their skin, behind the horrific history of the slave trade is a glorious history of redemption that is to be unfolded. This is the urgency in Wheatley's message. Seeing the work of Salvation through Christ in her own life has prompted her to seek true liberation of her enslaved people; a liberation by which no government can deliver. So, she restricts her message to the Body of Christ, urging them to remember the darkness that they once knew; calling to remembrance that while they were still in sin, darkened in their understanding, God reached out and saved them by washing them clean in the blood of Christ. Sin is the ultimate "slave master" from which she wishes to free her countrymen; once freed from sin, they will be free to be the bondservants of Christ.


Though short in length, this piece is pregnant with imagery and insight. This summation of it all is this: Even as we look back today, we cannot deny that much of this sentiment has been lost. I believe that Phyllis Wheatley gives us an accurate model of how we should see all of the atrocities of our world from a Christian perspective, be it racism or any other forms of social injustice. Although they exist, we must understand that Providence is at work behind every action, though we may not understand or see it at that moment. Also, we must not lose sight of the fact that all of the wrongs of this world, are brought on by our own inherent sinful natures. We are all 'black as Cain' and 'benighted in our souls' apart from the redeeming work of Christ, regardless of our status or position in the world. It is the church's job as those who have been called out of the darkness, to take the light of Christ back into the darkness, understanding that Christ, and only Christ, is the answer to changing of the hearts and minds of men. Putting grace before race is the only way liberate all men and restore human dignity among the various peoples of the world. No matter what advancements are gained by any group of people or individual-- without Christ, they are still in bondage.


In the words of former slave trader turned Christian hymn writer, John Newton:


Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed! Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.  -Amazing Grace




Scripture Study References:


Genesis 4:1-16; Psalm 82:3-4; Proverbs 31:8-9; Genesis 50:20; John 8:34-36, 12:32; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Philippians 3:7-9; Revelation 5:9-10


 Posted via web from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)