Rachel Held Evans

In early 2013, I was limping having barely survived an incredibly mean-spirited attack on my identity as pastor, christian and christ-follower. In the years previous I had struggled to plot a course that stepped away from a faith defined by exclusivity and culture-war posturing. I didn’t want to challenge anyone’s belief system, but I did try to model another way. I didn’t want a faith that only worked for some but wasn’t open to all. I was beginning to do the hard work of building a theology of reconciliation. Maybe I was too open, or too vulnerable with this work. I felt like the indigenous youth who formed the majority of my ministry needed someone who brought the gospel out to the street, and for better or worse, attempted to live the Jesus-way as a member of their community.

As I stumbled to follow Jesus – I challenged the assumptions so strongly held within evangelicalism. I was vulnerable with my doubts and struggles. I went through an evolution, and was shared openly as I processed. I came to realize that to build your faith upon Christ, you have to be willing to strip everything away until all you have is Him. This is always a messy process. I was open and vulnerable through it all… it was the only way I knew that would allow me to share my faith with youth who faced challenges way bigger than those of a suburban christian kid who decided to become a youth pastor and move into the hood.

Somewhere between insisting that all were welcome around Christ’s table, and modelling the Hebrew prophet’s commitment to social justice and non-violence, I ticked off enough people that I got some pretty nasty hate mail. Maybe it was the blog that I wrote, late in 2012 that encouraged churches to support indigenous issues, or maybe it was the fact that some had found out that I voted differently then most conservative evangelicals did.

With the hate-mail came a lot of ugly attacks, most of them centered around my identity as a follower of Christ. I believed good christians could come to different conclusions on how their faith was lived out, and how it impacted things like voting preferences, and the church’s connection to those outside the community of faith. I never assumed mine was the only position, I felt the path I was walking was what the Spirit asked of me, if others felt their path was different, who was I to disagree.

Accusations, hate-mail, slander, and enduring a public shaming/repenting, all hurt me deeply. I bared up under it, in hope that I could endure to save a ministry that worked closely with vulnerable, street-entrenched youth.

For two years after, I carried a deep wound in my soul. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Life was heavy. I was hurt and broken. Following what Christ put in my heart had cost me so much.

I don’t remember when I discovered Rachel Held Evans‘s writings. But I do know that during that painful season, the only thing that kept me afloat, the thing that the Spirit used to restore my soul was her work. I never met her, but she had a profound impact on me. Reading Rachel rebuilt my faith. It helped me see through the darkness and pain.. She took me by the hand and brought me to Jesus.

Thank-you Rachel. I can’t express how much your work has meant to me.

psalm 27.1-14 (nkjv)

“The LORD is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked came against me

To eat up my flesh,

My enemies and foes,

They stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the LORD,

That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD,

And to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;

Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!

Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face,”

My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

Do not hide Your face from me;

Do not turn Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help;

Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me,

Then the LORD will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O LORD,

And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;

For false witnesses have risen against me,

And such as breathe out violence.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

Wait on the LORD;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the LORD!”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:1-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The Stations of the Cross

This year for the Stations of the Cross I have been asked to do a reflection and prayer at the Third Station. The theme I was given was “The Crime of Homelessness”

Come out Good Friday, March 30th at 10am at the courthouse on Spadina to join Christians from all churches as we walk to remember Christ’s steps to Calvary.

Here is the reflection I wrote:

Station 3: Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. They said, ‘If you are the Messiah, tell us.’ He replied, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.’ All of them asked, ‘Are you, then, the Son of God?’ He said to them, ‘You say that I am.’ Then they said, ‘What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!’ (Luke 22:66-71)

Reflection on the Crime of Homelessness, Chris Randall, Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership

Jesus was judged and condemned by the court. Had he committed a crime? No. Those who experience homelessness in our community are often judged and condemned by society. They are seen as a problem to be “solved.” Individuals and families who struggle with homelessness are often viewed as responsible for creating their own situation. Poverty and homelessness are too often criminalized by our legal system, and condemned by the opinions of passerby’s.

Jesus knew what it was like to be condemned. He knew what it was like to suffer and be an outcast. During his ministry he was at times homeless.

Those who are homeless in our community do not choose to be so. Individuals and families facing homelessness struggle to find shelter and affordable housing. Youth often find themselves in potentially abusive situations due to having no options but couch-surfing. We live in a country with enough wealth for there to be housing for all. The crime of homelessness is that people still find they have nowhere to sleep on a night like tonight. Jesus said that likewise, the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head.

The church needs to welcome those who are homeless into our hearts, our homes and our churches. We need to welcome them as we would welcome Christ. We need to add our voice to make sure there are more than enough resources in our community to house and feed them.

Jesus calls us to see the suffering of the victims of this crime. Homelessness is a crime no one should have to face. At SHIP we use a Housing First model to house and stabilize homeless individuals and families. We work to make sure homelessness is rare, brief and non-reoccurring. We fund case-mangers at shelters and housing programs to house and support the homeless. As they are housed these individuals need support, understanding and care. As a community, the church can offer this support to both individuals and families. They don’t have to continue to experience re-occurring experiences of homelessness.

We pray: Lord help us see those who face homelessness through your eyes. Help us see them with dignity and compassion. Those who are homeless are victims of a crime they did not create. Allow us to love, support and care for them as you would have us do. Open our hearts to provide love and support to individuals and families facing homelessness. Remind us that you were at times homeless during your life on this earth. Let us pray for those who face homelessness even tonight. We pray they would receive shelter and housing as they look for it.

Jesus the Homeless, sculpture in London England.

The Intersections Between; Towards a Decolonized Faith and Spirituality

– Soichi Watanabe, Indigenous Hospitality House

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Lately, I had some time to pull together some of my studies on cross cultural identities and what being true to the text requires of us – from any cultural background, as we engage both culture and the call we have as Jesus followers.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a pastor, and have spent 14 years in ministry in a urban Indigenous community on Treaty-Six Territory here in Canada. Most of that time has been spent serving at an inner-city church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

My neighbourhood is a low-income urban community. It is home to many Indigenous people, mostly the Cree and Ojibway. I live and minister in the heart of Treaty 6 territory, and the homeland of the Metis Nation. Lately, gentrification has had an increasingly negative effect on the families in my neighbourhood. Long-time residents are beginning to be priced out of my neighbourhood due to development and so-called urban renewal.

Reconciliation::

Most of the theological work I have done has been working on building a theological framework for reconciliation and decolonization. Through over a decade of living in an urban First Nation community, I have begun to learn how to personally integrate the processes of decolonization.

My personal journey of deconstruction has been more along the lines of learning how to detach and decolonize from the dominant narratives of dominion theology, nationalism and detox from what pastor/theologian Brian Zahnd calls “easy cotton candy christianity.”

Indigenous engagement with the christian faith and spirituality have long looked to Jesus as Creator’s Son. This faith is living and vibrant. It was taken from the colonizers and settlers and made their own. For many it has formed the basis of a resilience that survived the cultural genocide of church-run residential schools and government enforced apartheid through the reservation and pass system.

Living in a large Indigenous urban neighbourhood, I have learned to listen to the voices of my community. Conversation, gatherings, feasts, and life-lived with Indigenous youth and elders, first challenged my theological assumptions, and then led me down this path of deconstruction/decolonization.

Settler Theological Constructs::

Where some speak of deconstruction, I speak of decolonization. For me the path to the true Christ is the narrow way away from nationalism and the euro-centric settler theological constructs I grew up with. Missionary work has been overwhelming harmful in the communities where I live and minister.

Decolonize::

I came here 14 years ago as a missionary. I had to walk the long path of decolonization to learn not to be that. To learn to embrace the challenge of the real work of true reconciliation. To first re-concile my own heart to the heart of God: love of neighbour; not love of mission.

Through this process of reconciliation and decolonization I learned to see Jesus with fresh eyes. I was born-again, again. I saw Jesus in the Kokum who challenged my assumptions about my neighbours. I saw Jesus in the youth who challenged my white-settler theology of dominion.

Through dominion theology I was the inheritor of the doctrine of discovery and I had to learn to repudiate that doctrine.

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Reconciliation:

Getting back to the topic at hand… Culture & Spirituality: What does reconciliation look like in a cross cultural context?

Most of my study comes out of Acts 17, because it is the clearest place in Scripture where Paul addresses the Gospel from a cross-cultural perspective.

In Acts 17, beginning in vs 26, Paul speaks of God creating every culture and ethnic group in hope that people would grope after Him and find Him.

I believe a study of this passage reveals two things:

  1. Culture and ethnicity were created by God and are a gift to us. Each of us is born into a specific culture. That cultural background is a gift from God. I personally am thankful for my Jewish and Irish backgrounds. Both backgrounds help me understand myself better, and help me understand who God created me to be. Although elsewhere Paul speaks of how in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, that reference does not infer culture is not important. I think a study of the whole of Scripture would show that culture is a gift.
  2. When Paul speaks of nations (ethnicity) and the boundaries of our dwellings (people group) he implicitly says that these two things parts of culture actually are used by the Creator-God,“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him,…” Acts 17:27

As followers of Christ, cultural identity is not the entirety of our identity, Christ is. So we relate to believers from other cultural backgrounds as brothers and sisters in Christ. And our identity, as believers, should be more tied to those in the family of God then it is to those of the same cultural or ethnic background we have. This is a radical corrective to the toxic nationalism sweeping the church in Canada and the US.

At the same time, because culture is a gift the Creator gave us, and placed us in at birth, we can take a measure of pride in our culture. It is a significant part of our created identify. To devalue ones culture would be to devalue a significant part of who the Creator-God made us to be. 

So culture plays a unique role in pointing humanity to its need to know the Creator. This isn’t just Indigenous culture; it is actually true of  all cultures across the world.

This is why culture and spirituality are tied so close together. Often we talk about culture and spirituality in a First Nation context; however, the tie between culture and spirituality is found in every human culture. It is only our modern materialistic culture that has gotten so secular in North America and Western Europe, where we seem to have a culture very divided from spirituality. Materialism and hedonism have produced the opposite of spirituality– agnosticism and atheism. As Jonathan Martin says, nationalism is nothing but another rival religion. Although it has made deep inroads in evangelical churches, at its centre it is rooted in colonialism and a secular/political agenda. It is antithetical to the way of Jesus.

It is ironic that the so called Christian Right has a deeply secularist agenda of power and greed, while railing against what it falsely labels secularist: progressive, reconciliation-aware theologies.

(k, I am done my rant…)

I think it is key to see culture is a gift, that points individuals within that culture for their need to know their Creator. I believe most cultures, and definitely all spiritualties, evolved out of our attempts to know the Divine.

Now this can obviously go horribly wrong, as Paul addresses in Romans 1 when he talks about worshiping creation rather than the Creator.

So, because culture is one: a gift from God. And two: a unique tool God uses to draw people to Himself. I believe within every human culture is a path that would eventually lead to Jesus. As Creator, God’s Spirit had a hand in the development of every culture – to seed within it a drive, or path, that would lead past human depravity to knowledge of their Creator.

Jesus taught that he was the path to knowing Creator as father. C.S. Lewis wrote that there are many paths to knowing Christ.

People come to Jesus through a whole host of ways. And not to sound like a broken record, but culture can be, and is one of the main drives in our lives that points us to our need to know our Creator. The Jewish culture (law, torah and the prophets) was supposed to prepare and point to Jesus when He came as Messiah. That is an obvious example of culture speaking to and leading people to “seek the Lord and grope after Him”

So the question is, is that only true of the Jewish culture, or is there an element in every culture that points to Christ as the path to knowing Creator as Father? I think just a cursory survey of human cultures shows that most, if not all, actually have as a main thrust, our need to know our Creator.

However, there is another example from Scripture that I find compelling. In Matthew 2 we hear the story of the Magi. These were royal men from a pagan culture. Most Bible scholars believe they were definitely gentiles, and a lot of scholars think that they were most likely from Persia. The phrase, from the east apparently has a connotation in the original greek that would lead to this conclusion.

As Gentiles from Persia, they would have followed the pagan religion of Zoroastrianism. This is interesting in the whole discussion around culture. Writings that have survived from the early church discuss what believers only a generation or two after Christ and the Apostles thought about the Magi.

“Although Matthew’s account does not explicitly cite the motivation for their journey (other than seeing the star in the east, which they somehow took to be the star of the King of the Jews), the Syriac provides some clarity by stating explicitly in the third chapter that they were pursuing a prophecy from their prophet, Zoradascht (Zoroaster)”.

Now whether or not the Magi were following a pagan prophesy that led them to follow a star that would point to Christ’s birth, I do think it is clear that the wise men didn’t know the God of the Hebrews and still felt compelled by their culture and spirituality to follow a star that led to their direct knowledge of Christ. Matthew states that when the found the babe and his mother they fell down and worshiped Him.

I think we can conclude that the Creator led pagan kings through, and not in-spite of, their pagan culture to a place of revelation and salvation.

I firmly believe that spiritually hungry people in any culture will eventually find a path (in this case, the star) that leads to a divine knowledge of truth.

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Ok, now what? I think I have made a good argument for how the Creator uses culture to reach humanity. However, as Christ-followers, do we shed our cultural backgrounds as sinful at the foot of the cross?

For the last couple hundred years many Christians have thought so. Christian missionaries around the world have preached that culture is idolatrous and should be abandoned when one accepts Christ.

The problem with this is, that by and large, Christians have lived from a white supremest cultural construct, and our requirements for other peoples as they came to Christ was that they needed to abandon their culture. We never constructively asked ourselves if we were also willing to criticize or step away from the euro-centric christian settler assumptions we often held.

I think that is how colonialism was born; so often the church in generations past confused Christian discipleship with “you should become European, just like us.”

So residential schools were developed. Speaking English or French was considered “Christian” speaking a First Nation language was considered  “pagan.”

What we did with culture was to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Now, as a follower of Christ, I believe that my discipleship requires two things from me on the cultural front. First, I believe that my culture or anyone else’s should be honoured as the gift from God that it actually is. Second, I believe that when I come to Christ, I don’t throw away my culture, rather, part of the process of discipleship is learning how to allow the Holy Spirit to lead me in redeeming my culture.

All culture can and should be redeemed. So what do we do with spirituality?

This is a long discussion, but there are a couple quick conclusions that I think are apparent from the above study of culture from a biblical worldview.

First, spirituality is the part of culture that attempts to know God. Think of Paul’s mention of the alter to the unknown God. (also in Acts 17)

All cultures do attempt to know God. And it is the spirituality that arises from that culture that is our striving to know God.

This is interesting, because I think that in attempting to know God, through spirituality – one can make the mistakes of Romans chapter one, but, one can also, like the Magi, actually find a path that will take one to the truth found in Christ.

There is a lot more I could write. However, my final thought is this. CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that monotheistic cultures were a lot closer to the revelation of God then polytheistic cultures.

Scripture is clear that salvation comes through Christ alone. In culture and spirituality, there is something – that would drive one who is truly hungry for the truth, to a place of being open to the revelation of Christ and who He is.

The central focus of all Indigenous culture and spirituality is prayers made to the Creator. It is a monotheistic culture and spirituality.

As a pastor of an urban Indigenous community, I have been participated in many traditional rituals and practices. They all revolve around praying to God the Creator. In my experience, it is not the case that they are praying to other spirits.

I believe just like practicing Jews, and those of other monotheistic religions, First Nations people know of God, and the focus of their spirituality is actually prayers made to Him.

So if someone smudges to the Creator, I don’t see that as any different then Jewish prayers made to God Himself. Just as those Jewish people pray to God, First Nation prayers (including smudging) are in-fact prayers made to God the Creator. Further, Scripture clearly states that does does listen to anyone who makes prayers to God the Creator, follower of Christ or not.

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Finally, I have included a short write-up on the practice of smudging when it has been redeemed by followers of Christ.

Smudging is simply a “form” attached to prayer. It is a ritual. As a cultural ritual it is spiritually neutral. Its spiritual content would depend on the spiritual state of the one praying. I know First Nation believers that smudge. They have centred their lives on the Word of God, and are faithful believers just like you or I. They are attempting to hold a cultural practice- and redeem it to use for the glory of God.

Now, I am not arguing that all First Nation believers should smudge. But I do think in following the principles outlined in the Bible, especially around the arguments Paul made against circumcision – my conclusion is cultural practices should be free – left to the discernment of an individual.

Some Indigenous Jesus followers are comfortable redeeming things like hand drums for use in worship, others dress in regalia and dance powwow to glorify God.

Others go as far down the road of redeeming cultural practices as possible. There is a church I know in Vancouver that is Spirit filled. They speak in tongues and prophesy. They also have a First Nation pastor who opens every service with smudging. I have spoken to him and he believes that smudging does two things. It honours the culture that He believes God gave his people. Also, because they are an outreach church in a neighbourhood with a lot of First Nation people, it states clearly that the Gospel is not in opposition to culture. He believes this breaks down walls that would make it hard for people to hear and accept Christ.

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Below is a Scriptural Interpretation of Smudging that I got from a Pastor in Winnipeg.

Christ as Creator::

In the past the Creator spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the one through whom the Creator made the whole universe, the one whom the Creator has chosen to possess all things at the end. He reflects the brightness of the Creator’s glory and is the exact likeness of the Creator’s own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, He sat down in heaven at the right side of the Creator, the Supreme Power.

(Adapted from Hebrews 1:1-3)

Smudging as a Christian Aboriginal Ritual::

In Christian Aboriginal faith, smudging is a call to worship the Triune Creator: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Like church bells, smudging informs people that an act of worship is about to begin. The smudging ritual invites people to join the sacred space and activity for praying to the Creator in the name of Jesus Christ. The ritual of smudging communicates the initiation of a spiritual activity through sight and smell, our visual and olfactory senses. People see the smudge elements; they smell the fragrant aroma of the smoldering elements. Additionally, people participate in the smudging ritual by wafting the rising smoke over their hands, face, and other parts of their body. Participation in a smudging ritual is always optional; people’s desire to participate or note participate is always respected.

The elements used for smudging may include one or more of the following: sweet grass, sage, cedar, and tobacco.

The sweet grass reminds us of our impurity before the Creator. Covering oneself in the fragrant aroma of the sweet grass is a confession of our need to be purified by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are reminded that “Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet smelling sacrifice that pleased the Creator.” Ephesians 5:2

The sage reminds us of our need for healing by Christ the Creator. Covering oneself in the fragrant aroma of the sage is a prayer for healing by Christ. We are reminded that “It is by Christ’s wounds that we have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

The cedar reminds us that we must worship the Creator in truth. Covering oneself in the fragrant aroma of the cedar is a commitment to be honest and to worship the Creator in truth. We are reminded “ that the Creator is spirit and this worshippers must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

The tobacco reminds us that the Creator made us in his image from the elements of creation. Covering oneself in the fragrant aroma of the tobacco is a commitment to honour the creation from which we were made and in which the creator placed us. Genesis 2:4-25

Participating in the smudging ritual may remind people of the incense ritual and elements that the Creator gave to the people of Israel. Exodus 30:34-38

Participating in the smudging ritual may remind people of the word of the Lord through the prophet Malachi that, “”My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations.” Says the Lord Almighty.” Malachi 1:11

Participating in the smudging ritual may remind people that the book of Revelation reveals that in heaven, incense offerings will be offered to the Lord. Revelation 5:1-14; 8:1-5

A Smudging Prayer

Creator,

Our Father in heaven,

We come to you as your children

We confess that we are weak and broken images of you.

We pray for the forgiveness and healing you give in Jesus Christ.

May his Spirit clean our spirits, minds, hearts, and bodies.

We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to worship in spirit and truth.

We pray in the name of Jesus,

So that his Spirit will carry our prayers to you.

Amen

– Justice for Our Stolen Sisters Camp, Regina, Saskatchewan.

When talking fails, listening begins?

frjakob

I moved and settled down here in Saskatoon because some of Gods people asked me to do so. I have come to love Saskatoon, her people, beauty and personality. As someone arriving from far away I was thrilled to recognize the imprints of the work by the Holy Spirit in the city, she is founded on the spirit of the aspiration of mutual understanding and cooperation rather than colonization and segregation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M–y1AEX9pM (Thank you Chris Randall for bringing this to my attention). Many spiritual gifts are at work in the Church of Saskatoon. The Holy Spirit is at work here and the Kingdom of God is just a perspective away. Like an orchestra the Church in Saskatoon is tuning up to play beautiful music, but before that can happen, before the full potential of the orchestra is unlocked, the orchestra needs to put it’s full attention on the Conductor first…

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1930 article // #penticostalhistory

Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center

PenEva19300208_0834_10
This Week in AG History–February 8, 1930
By Darrin Rodgers

Also published in PENews, 5 February 2015

Aunt Fanny, a 100-year old Hoopa Indian woman, accepted Christ in about 1920 when a Mexican-American Pentecostal evangelist, A. C. Valdez, visited the Hoopa Indian Reservation in northern California. She was among the earliest Native American Pentecostals, and was almost certainly the oldest.

Aunt Fanny had long been revered in Native American circles. Born in about 1820, she recounted the sacred stories of her ancestors. She herself had lived longer than most everyone else. She remembered, as a girl, seeing the first white men come to her small village. She initially thought they were creatures sent from the Thunder Sky by the Great Spirit. Afterward, she witnessed white soldiers massacre many Native Americans in her village. She survived the massacre and forgave the white men who killed her people.

Sometime later, Aunt Fanny’s…

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judging

Eating from the forbidden tree represents our rebellious attempts to position ourselves as judges rather than leaving all judgment to God, as the bible consistently commands
(e.g. Rom 14:10; James 4:11-12).

The moment we become judgers, we stop being lovers. The moment we eat from the forbidden tree, we’re blocked from access to the Tree of Life
(Gen 3:22-24).

— Greg Byod

read more:

this.

…otherwise orthodox evangelicalism is dead. It’s dead to oppressed folks in our back yards who need to hear the word of God spoken into their situation with all the prophetic unction our Lord would give. It’s dead to grieving parents required to have closed casket funerals for their children because racist systems and people so disfigure the body it can’t be shown.

Orthodox evangelicalism is dead to the marginalized because it’s so allergic to the margins. It wants its mainstream, its tree-lined streets of cultural acceptance, its reserve and respectability. So it’s dead.

read more here: Ferguson