Defender of the forsaken – this is God
The Lord sees when the vulnerable are wrongly rejected. He hears when the helpless cry to him, and he champions them. Defender of the forsaken – this is God.
One who stands in the gap
It’s a story from the distant past, with profound implications today. A story of glory on the mountain – mutiny in the valley. Reading it, we can see how the Lord responded when a people who had just committed themselves to be his people reveled in breaking their vows. As we open ourselves to the Word and the Spirit, may we see much more.
The great righteousness-justice divide
Ultimately, collectively, the church quenched the Spirit’s voice in order to embrace the society’s values. The church began to preach - and to try to live - a righteousness unencumbered with justice. But. God.
When waiting is writhing
What do you do when you feel angry, impotent and stuck, in a place where evil seems invincible and justice, impossible? Be still? Wait patiently? Psalm 37:7 may seem like a call to “just relax.” Instead it affirms and encourages struggle – struggle to resist taking matters into your own hands, struggle to cooperate with Christ to birth deliverance and life.
People of God, defend the forsaken
God identifies himself as Defender of the forsaken. This same God counts it crucial that his people defend the cause of those who are easiest to abuse.
Cotton I picked, (c) GollyGForce
We need to see
Mini-post: Thought-provoking quote from We Confess! The Civil War, the South, and the Church
“The Christians of the South adopted a beguiling code of ‘chivalry’ drawn from fictional accounts of the Dark Ages. They promoted as biblical a view of women heavily influenced by Arthurian romance novels.” – We Confess
Jesus, white men and me
"White men are not the secret weapon (to dismantling injustice in the church and beyond) ... but Jesus is."
“My family never owned slaves”
Much as we may try to do so, we cannot buy ourselves “a pass from American history,” nor from the racist fallout still occurring today.
Strange fruit – or good?
"The Church's broken history with race needs to be acknowledged before we can move forward."
Profound forgiven-ness
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves ... then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”