Learn to do right; seek justice

This past weekend thousands of people marched through their city streets in what was called “March for Our Lives”.  It was the first time in my life that I recall seeing such a movement that was led by youth (in most cities).  The march was a result of the shooting that occurred in Parkland, Florida where 17 people lost their lives.  The march was to call attention to gun laws in our country and make a statement that these mass shootings need to stop.  As I watched the coverage, I was amazed at the youth who were speaking all over the country and on television.  The one thing I notice in them all was their passion; it was pretty astounding to hear them speak with such conviction.

As the day progressed, and even into Sunday, I was on social media and began reading some of the stories that were being written about this march.  As I scrolled through the comment sections of these stories, it became disheartening to read what some were writing about our youth.  Some were using words like spoiled, dumb, waste of time, entitlement, etc….this list went on.  Some were saying these kids were merely pawns and they knew nothing about what they were marching for and should just go back to eating Tide Pods.    I found it to be sad.

Isiah 1:17 says “Learn to do right; seek justice.  Defend the oppressed.  Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”   This is all about advocacy.  As Christians we should seek to ensure that all people, especially those who cannot speak for themselves, have their voices heard.  Each of us is called to be an advocate and our example of how to do that is Jesus Christ.  He showed us how to love our neighbor and care for the flock.   He spoke, taught and acted to change our lives, so that we could change the lives of others.  As Christians, and as a church, we should stand for justice.  We should stand for those who cannot protect themselves; be a voice for those who have no voice.  Most importantly, we should love one another as Jesus first loved us.  Who will you be an advocate for this week?  Who will you stand up for?  Where will you seek justice?  pexels-photo-953162.jpeg

 

 

And so it begins…..

For a few years now, I have had the desire to write a book about faith; however, being a father of three, a husband, and a Youth Director at a great church, I felt like I never had the time.   After talking with my Pastor, he suggested starting with a blog and you can go from there; that is what I have decided to do.  As I sat down to think about how to start this, I could not help but think of a conversation I had with a group of youth a few weeks back when we were talking about social media and what role it played in their world.  We were talking about some of the arguments that were taking place at that time around the National Anthem protest in the NFL with some players taking a knee.  We talked about how some had seen folks go back and forth on social media, and some of it was very ugly.  While we were having this conversation, one of youth stated “why can’t we live more with our hearts and less with our minds?”  It seems the world controls our mind and our thoughts, and we don’t seem to trust what our heart is telling us.  It was something that has stuck with me ever since.  For the past few weeks, I have taken time to see how many times people react in this world with their minds and not their hearts; their hearts where the Holy Spirit dwells.  With that being said, I decided it was time to give this a try and when asked what I wanted to call the site the one thing that stuck in my mind was “Worldly Mind; Heavenly Heart”.

Worldly in the dictionary is defined as “concerned with material values or ordinary life rather than a spiritual existence.”  Where are you at?  Do you live with a worldly mind or a heavenly heart?  Do you feel as though your life is just ordinary and you may just be going through the motions?  I am here to tell you that your life is not ordinary; you are not ordinary.  You are a gift and every day you live is a gift.  We are certainly going to have ups and downs in our lives; we are going to have days where we question our faith and where is God.  I am here to tell you that he is alive and well in our hearts!  My hope is that you live with your heart; it is right.  Let’s all try to remember “the mind is worldly but our hearts our holy”

Jeff