From: The Pastor’s Heart
Title: “The Strategy of a Good LEAD
Okay, I admit. I’m one of the bias ones when it comes to the President. I’ve always
been proud to say that during my lifetime, we elected the first black man to the highest
office in the land. We voted in a sharp, tactical, intellectual Christian black man who
spoke yesterday in Dallas, TX with poise and brilliance that we haven’t seen since the days
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He had a most difficult task before him and there were many
charged and ready to analyze and annihilate every word he said, but the critics had to
search long and hard to find critique, because my president knocked it out the park.
Here’s the part that really blessed me and I hope it blesses you too:
“We know that centuries of racial discrimination — of slavery, and subjugation, and
Jim Crow didn’t simply vanish with the end of lawful segregation. They didn’t just stop
when Dr. King made a speech, or the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act were
signed. Race relations have improved dramatically in my lifetime. Those who deny it are
dishonoring the struggles that helped us achieve that progress. –
But we know that bias remains. We know it. Whether you are black or white or
Hispanic or Asian or Native American or of Middle Eastern descent, we have all seen this
bigotry in our own lives at some point. We’ve heard it at times in our own homes. If we’re
honest, perhaps we’ve heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts. We
know that. And while some suffer far more under racism’s burden, some feel to a far
greater extent discrimination’s sting. Although most of us do our best to guard against it
and teach our children better, none of us is entirely innocent. No institution is entirely
immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this…”
“…In the end, it’s not about finding policies that work; it’s about forging consensus,
and fighting cynicism, and finding the will to make change.
Can we do this? Can we find the character, as Americans, to open our hearts to
each other? Can we see in each other a common humanity and a shared dignity, and
recognize how our different experiences have shaped us? And it doesn’t make anybody
perfectly good or perfectly bad, it just makes us human. I don’t know. I confess that
sometimes I, too, experience doubt. I’ve been to too many of these things. I’ve seen too
many families go through this. But then I am reminded of what the Lord tells Ezekiel: I will
give you a new heart, the Lord says, and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
That’s what we must pray for, each of us: a new heart. Not a heart of stone, but a
heart open to the fears and hopes and challenges of our fellow citizens. That’s what we’ve
seen in Dallas these past few days. That’s what we must sustain.”
I thought about summarizing his words for today’s inspiration, but honestly, there
was no need to do that. My president said it well enough. The question for all of us today
is, do we have the Desire and the Heart to IMPROVE ourselves and our communities?
EVERYTHING WE DO MOVING FORWARD WILL BE INTENTIONAL AND DRIVEN WITH
PURPOSE TO REPRESENT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE BEST POSSIBLE LIGHT!
NOTHING WILL BE DONE WITH ENERGY LESS THAN OUR BEST AND EFFORT BELOW
OUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL.
OUR SERVICE IS LOCAL, BUT OUR REACH IS GLOBAL – SO WE CANNOT REDUCE OUR
PRESENTATION DOWN TO WHAT’S CONVENIENT, BUT RATHER WE MUST RAISE IT TO
THAT WHICH IS EXPLOSIVE!
Get ready for major change that’s coming systematically, intellectually, purposefully, and
professionally. Nothing we do moving forward will be done haphazardly, sloppily, poorly,
or carnally.
We Are the LIGHT!
Sincerely,
Pastor J.E. Chandler, Sr.
(CEO/Pastor of MLCM)