Please take the time to read this and THINK and PRAY and ask God for grace and wisdom and faith to act. You can read it on their blog with all the pictures here: http://thephilpotfamily.blogspot.com/2012/03/dear-trayvons-mom.html

March 26, 2012
Dear Trayvon’s Mom

I noticed a friend had shared this, and I thought I’d repost it here too. I’ll just copy and paste the whole thing from the original blog… it’s been that thought provoking for me this morning.

My name is Jen Hatmaker. I’m super white. I even have blue eyes. My hair was snow blonde then it was dirty brown and now it’s gray but I color it so who even knows anymore? (I’m sorry. I overshare when I’m nervous.) My husband and I cranked out three carbon copies of us.

Look at us. We were the poster family for white people.

I grew up in the lower middle class. In my early years, we lived in racially diverse cities. I was the only white girl in my second grade class in Little Rock, Arkansas, a fact I was oblivious to, because you get the luxury of being oblivious when you’re seven. I lived in south Louisiana, where there is every shade of skin color under God’s yellow sun. But I logged my formative middle and high school years in Wichita, Kansas…Haysville, Kansas to be exact. Pretty much total white bread.

I nonchalantly enjoyed my white privileges my entire adult life, one of those people who said “racism is dying” and “things are different now” and “we’re colorblind” and casual ignorance like that. I gushed and over-loved any black people in my life, of which there were very few; none in a real relationship with me that wasn’t exaggerated and a little contrived and over-zealous.

But then we decided to adopt two children from Ethiopia, and in November 2010, as I was shopping for their very first care package to send over, I was standing in the middle of the Target toy aisle, and I sent out this SOS text:

Where are all the black baby dolls?

I sat down in the middle of Target and cried my eyes out.

How did I never notice this? How was this my first sense of outrage over this discrepancy? How could I have yammered about the end of racism and “a fair system” when evidence to the contrary was staring me in the face every single day?

Sybrina, please envision me getting down on my knees in front of you, this white mama, and asking you to forgive me. I never understood the systemic racism that persists in this country,because I didn’t have to. The system is structured to grant me privileges and power through no merit of my own; simply by virtue of my skin color. This same system denies and protects this oppressive hierarchy, conditioning white people to not even see it.

We don’t get followed around in the store by suspicious security.

We don’t get singled out or searched by policemen.

The bandaids in Walmart all match our skin color.

The children’s section in the bookstore is full of covers with white kids.

If I ask to speak to a manager, he or she is usually white, like me.

And our sons don’t get murdered walking down our own street holding Skittles.

So because these things didn’t happen to me, I ignorantly assumed they were not happening to you. I casually consumed my white privileges – these unearned assets that granted me the benefit of the doubt and free passes and guaranteed security and permanent insider status – assuming that anyone else, anyone, could enjoy these same advantages by making good choices and working hard.

But it is simply not true, because the same system that keeps me on top keeps you on bottom. If anyone is automatically granted insider status, by definition that means someone has outsider status. We see this when a black student or man or woman accomplishes something extraordinary, and they are called “a credit to their race.” If a white person pulled off the same thing, he would just be called awesome. You have to work harder for acknowledgment, and then singling it out as an exception to the rule diminishes and demeans your merit.

I didn’t know about the Black Male Code, because I didn’t have to. I had the luxury of knowing my sons would breeze through applications and security lines and entrance exams and interviews, receiving unmerited approval at the first glance.

But then I got this son.

And I watched in horror as this son was cut down in the prime of his life.

And my heart was seized in terror. Because everyone loves my Ben right now. Who wouldn’t? He’s eight and the size of a first grader. He’s adorable and silly. His Ethiopian accent is the cutest thing that has ever entered your ears. He’s writing stories about “A Dog as the President” and he wears and a helmet and kneepads when he skates. He watches Power Rangers.

But I’m learning what is going to happen six years from now, Sybrina. People will start to suspect him for no reason, or train a watchful eye on him at the mall, or fear him. He may ask a white girl to prom, one he has gone to school with since these innocent years, and get his heart crushed when her daddy forbids it. He will have to be careful in public with his friends, as the most innocent activity will likely be interpreted as threatening…like walking down the street with candy and tea in his own neighborhood.

I have grieved endlessly for your son. I just keep trying to make sense of it, and sense won’t come. There is simply no sense in this injustice. You don’t get to murder a teenage boy because you’re paranoid and suspicious of him. You don’t get to do that. Would this have happened if Trayvon was a white kid named Troy? Would he have been viewed with the same fear? Will our black sons ever escape this treacherous plight and just be free to be children?

I’m ashamed that I haven’t seen or cared about this inequity until I had black kids under my roof, Sybrina. I’m so sorry. I would completely understand if you dismissed my solidarity here, because just two years ago I claimed America was a post-racial country, and that is a sorry state of willful ignorance. Neglecting the hard, important conversations about race, justice, ignorance, and inequity until I literally had skin in the game is appalling, and if you reject my concern now, I wouldn’t blame you.

But if you’ll have me, I’d like to stand with you.

I’d like to link arms and stand up for our black sons and daughters, calling the system so wrought with disparities to reform. I want to engage these challenging discussions with respect and commitment to one another, because I can no longer be complicit in the battle against equity.

We’re going to have to work hard here, because it’s tempting to make sweeping statements and unfair generalities. It’s easy to say things are all bad or all good or never this or always that, and that’s not true and won’t get us far. Both of our races are wrought with fools and charlatans and bigots; none of us are perfect and this is complicated. It’s going to take respect and humility to navigate this well, to begin pulling the threads to unravel such an entrenched system. But I want to start here, with you:

I see Trayvon.

I know he wasn’t a perfect kid. He probably opened up a sassy mouth to you and whined about chores. His room might have been a pigsty no matter how much you fussed at him (but with a face like that, I’m sure he got away with it). Like all seventeen-year-old sons, he probably drove you crazy sometimes, pushing against the boundaries barely holding him back from young adulthood, anxious to spread his wings. But he was the son of your heart and he mattered and he deserved life.

I am devastated it was stolen.

Please know that as for me, I promise to do the hard work and ask the hard questions and enter the difficult places to turn the tides for my son and all the black sons, and I grieve that it is too late for yours. I hope the national outcry for Trayvon has comforted you; so many of us see him. We are hungry for a better world where our boys can walk down the street unafraid and unfeared.

Please accept my hand; I stand with you, two moms demanding more for our sons. I am sorry you’ve lost Trayvon, my sister. I’m so very sorry. May his legacy help us move into a wider space together, tearing down walls and stereotypes and fear and building communities where we truly love our neighbor once again.

All my love to you.

http://thephilpotfamily.blogspot.com/2012/03/dear-trayvons-mom.html

Here’s the Fox News story on Joel Shrum that I spoke of this morning. It seems he ran like the winners run! Now he has the prize – Christ-likeness in the presence of Christ.

Al Qaeda-linked group claims it killed American teacher in Yemen for Christian proselytizing

Published March 18, 2012

SANAA, Yemen – A group linked to Al Qaeda claims it killed an American teacher in Yemen for Christian proselytizing.

Joel Shrum, a 29-year-old English language teacher from Harrisburg, Pa., had worked for two years in the central city of Taiz.

Yemeni officials say Shrum was killed in his car Sunday morning when assailants in military uniforms sped up next to him on a motorcycle, opened fire and then sped away. Witnesses say he was killed instantly.

A text message sent to journalists said, “This operation comes as a response to the campaign of Christian proselytizing that the West has launched against Muslims.” It claimed Shrum was “one of the biggest American proselytisers.”

The text message from an unidentified person claimed responsibility on behalf of a group called the Partisans of Islamic Law.

CBS affiliate WHP in Harrisburg reports that Shrum is survived by two children and his wife, who also taught at the school in Yemen.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/03/18/american-teacher-killed-by-gunmen-in-yemen-officials-say/#ixzz1pXAmTGDA

March 12th, 2012

Dear church family or friend of Springs of Grace,

Grace and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This past year the Lord has challenged us as a faith family with several truths. Through the young lady, Jehoshabeath who leveraged her influence as the sister of the king to rescue the helpless and to further God’s kingdom, we have been asked to leverage our influence as a child of God to seek our Heavenly Father for the rescue of the helpless and the spread of His kingdom in these days.
God has a mission for us to accomplish and a people He has given us to love. In 1 Corinthians God has called us through Paul to run like the winner runs – to seek how we can be all things to all men so that by all means we might win some. I hope you are joining me in asking how we can break down barriers and close gaps and minimize differences so that we can gain a hearing for the gospel with our neighbors, classmates, colleagues, families and friends. I believe the Lord is calling us to lift our love for each other to a higher level so we can have the comfort of a strong family standing with us and behind us as we extend ourselves in love to all those God gives us to love.
God has urged us towards His mission for us and towards these acts of love in many ways. One of those is a passion for investing in lives through our intern ministry. For the past several years we have taken an offering in the spring to seek God’s provision for the special ministry opportunities of the summer. After prayer and seeking counsel from the advisory team we believe we should once again ask the Lord to provide for these ministries through this special offering.
During the next few weeks we want to ask you to pray especially for two things.
First, Sunday, April 1st, we will take a special offering that will go towards our summer ministry. We don’t do this often. We hope people will give willingly and joyfully and secretly as each one is led by the Lord. Ours is a day when much of the church seems to sell the gospel and others market the church in a way that targets financially profitable groups. We feel the biblical exhortations to give in secret and to trust the Lord to supply the needs of His body ought to be our emphasis. We are thankful for the generous way the Lord has supplied our needs as a church body through the faithful giving of the saints – without us needing to make any emotional appeals.
We believe deeply in the value of training urban missionaries and modeling for these interns what a God-centered church that goes after the head AND the heart for the glory of the Lord looks like. We believe the giftings of the interns add greatly to our ability as a church to carry out the mission God has given us for this city. Each year the Lord has provided amazingly for this ministry and we look to Him to do so again through His people.
The Lord continues to give us wonderful opportunities for increased ministry. The number of young men and women expressing an interest in serving as interns this summer is staggering. We want to walk faithfully in the ministries the Lord has opened the door to. We are asking you to pray with us for $30,000 to support the summer ministry. Frankly, that is a staggering amount for such a small group of saints, but we believe the Lord has placed these ministries before us and it seems right to pursue Him to supply the means to carry them out. Last week I was reminded of a way the Lord challenged me back in the summer of 2010 when our church was going through a very challenging financial time. Let me quote you what I wrote that night. “An 8 year old boy came to VBS this morning and ran up to me and said, “I have an offering.” We never take a formal offering in our church much less in Vacation Bible School. I answered – “That’s great. Why?” The young boy answered – “I thought this morning, (with a huge smile) I love this church – I ought to bring an offering.” I took him to the little box on the wall and he stuck in his fifty cents. I was convinced that it was a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord!” I love this church and the work the Lord has called us to and I am asking the Lord to let my family give towards it. Ask the Lord what you should give and who you should share this need with. It may well be that the Lord would not have you give to this special offering or share the need with others at all. He may have you express your love for Him and this church in other ways. That’s fine. We just want you to pray with us and give if and as the Lord enables you to give.
Secondly, over the next 9 months we are asking each family of our church to join us in a prayer for laborers to join the ministry at Springs of Grace Bible Church. We are very grateful to the Lord for the people and gifts He is using to build His church here and we trust His wise leadership. However, if the Lord has these ministries for us and if they are to expand in effectiveness, then we need a larger base of laborers. Would you commit or renew your commitment to ask the Lord to enable you to reach at least one family or individual over the next 9 months who would come and join in the ministry here? One part of this would be making it a matter of regular prayer to ask the Lord to send more laborers to this ministry.
Many of you are here as a direct answer to this type of prayer by others over the past years. Hopefully, the Lord would see fit to reach more than one family through some of us but if each family or individual would reach one other family or individual by the start of 2013, this body would be in an even greater position to pursue our vision for training and sending out preachers and urban missionaries; addressing the educational crisis by taking our after school program to five days a week, promoting adoption and foster care and supporting the families who have adopted or are caring for foster children; tutoring and skill development in the inner city; increased mission support; helping families raise up a godly generation; a medical mission to the families of our neighborhood, ministry to the homeless, a coaching ministry; intern ministry; strengthening godly, holy and passionate marriages; increasing and developing our preacher school into a tremendous training center; finding and providing real outlets for teaching and preaching the Bible throughout our city; outreach to the pimps and prostitutes and gangs of our city; ministry to the disabled; an increase in the preaching and shepherding ministry within the body; effectiveness in carrying out the one anothers as we seek to stir each other up to love and good deeds; and other opportunities the Lord may bring our way. If the Lord answers these prayers, we might well add another 100 people for us to minister to and labor alongside.
It is my desire for you to prayerfully make a commitment before the Lord to pray for laborers. This is no small thing. Perhaps you have made this commitment in the past and it has slipped from your mind. This would be a great time to renew this commitment. On Sunday, April 1st you’ll be given the opportunity to make or renew this commitment.
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul is speaking of the church and in that context he says, “Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Our Lord is able to do far more than we think through the church for His glory. Please join us in these two great prayers as we continue seeking to be a church that collectively puts on display the perfections of Christ.

Your servant,

Joe Blankenship

“I do the very best I know how-the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said about me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, then ten thousand angels swearing I was right would not make a difference.”
- Abraham Lincoln

“I do the very best I know
how-the very best I can;
and I mean to keep doing
so until the end. If the end
brings me out all right,
what’s said about me won’t
amount to anything. If the
end brings me out wrong,
then ten thousand angels
swearing I was right would
not make a difference.”
- Abraham Lincoln

Tim Challies posted this quote of John Owen. I don’t know if there is any truth more powerful than this.

Here is a beautiful and powerful quote from John Owen who calls on you to rejoice in the love of God (It is taken from Communion with the Triune God). Owen says rightly that knowing and believing God’s love is the key to delighting in him. But he says it much better than that.

So much as we see of the love of God, so much shall we delight in him, and no more. Every other discovery of God, without this, will but make the soul fly from him; but if the heart be once much taken up with this the eminency of the Father’s love, it cannot choose but be overpowered, conquered, and endeared unto him. This, if anything, will work upon us to make our abode with him. If the love of a father will not make a child delight in him, what will? Put, then, this to the venture: exercise your thoughts upon this very thing, the eternal, free, and fruitful love of the Father, and see if your hearts be not wrought upon to delight in him. I dare boldly say: believers will find it as thriving a course as ever they pitched on in their lives. Sit down a little at the fountain, and you will quickly have a further discovery of the sweetness of the streams. You who have run from him, will not be able, after a while, to keep at a distance for a moment.