Will You?

Building a friendship.
Learning about their culture.
Celebrating their joys.
Crying with them in their sorrows.
Building trust.

Inviting the family(8) over.
To a tiny house with a tiny living room.
Eating a meal on TV trays.
Kids in the tiny other room drawing and coloring.

Talking about Jesus.
Sharing a testimony.
Giving the invitation.
He accepts it. Asks Jesus to live in his heart.
She rejoices as she has prayed for her husband for several years.

Changing the course of a nation.
By a simple choice to follow.
His people group needs Jesus.
He may be the "one" here in Montgomery.
To change the course of their people.

All it took....a tiny house. TV trays. A shared meal. Willingness to simply share how Jesus has transformed us.

Will you? No excuses. For the sake of the nations here in Montgomery?

Psalms 96:3 “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”

Isaiah 58 for Montgomery, AL

After hearing a sermon on this, I felt led to use this text for our "prayer" this week here in the Greater Montgomery area. After our 5 week looking at some core issues here in this area, I thought it was appropriate to lay this passage out there for ALL of us to ponder this week. If it is familiar to you, don't skim over it. It is powerful and full of wisdom for those of us who are followers of Christ.

Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you on how to live out this passage here in the Greater Montgomery area.  Pay attention to the first part of this passage as you begin to read...this can apply to the church

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

THEN your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
THEN you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

This is the Word of the Lord.......................FOR US in Montgomery!

Heart Change in Montgomery

Over the last 5 weeks, We have covered the 5 core issues that Montgomery Baptist Association feels are prevalent in the Montgomery area.

We have acknowledged that in the areas of consumer religion, race, schools, crime and poverty- ALL require HEART CHANGE on behalf of the church as well as those who struggle in these areas. That is the ONLY way that things can turn around. Would you be willing to commit to praying for our churches in Montgomery to be REVIVED and have CHANGED HEARTS? 

If we all would allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts, we would see many people come to Christ and have their own HEART CHANGE AND then we WOULD see MANY changes in our city.

This is one of my FAVORITE VERSES in the Bible because it gives HOPE for us all. As followers of Christ, we can find new life and a new heart of love and compassion as we submit ourselves to the Lord and for those who don't yet know the Lord, we can see a NEW HEART formed in them.

Ezekiel 11:19 - "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh...."

What do we pray for then? Read these passages today for direction.
1. For the Lord to continue to show us the ways that we need to change our own hearts. Psalm 139:23-24
2. For the Lord to change the hearts corporately in ALL of our Christian churches. I John 3:17-18
3. For the Lord to open our eyes to the needs around us.
Matthew 10:5-8(specifically the Message)

Racism

RACISM can only be changed when people's hearts are changed. The way to heart change is through Jesus. The way to Jesus is through followers of Christ taking and living out the message of the gospel in our community.

There is no doubt that racism exists in and out of the Christian church. How can we overcome? Rev. Billy Graham nails it on the head for us as the Christian. "Racism is sin. Period".

Those of us who are "white" followers of Christ, really need to understand that we have no idea how deep the wounds are ingrained in our black brothers and sisters families. It goes back generations. We can't tell them just to "get over it". Especially in Montgomery and the Greater Montgomery area, we are to love our brothers and sisters of color and reach out in love. Don't try to understand because we have never gone through what their families (of many generations)have gone through because you can't. Instead, ask questions, learn to empathize and walk beside those who have suffered great injustices.

 

FOR ALL OF US----we can remember that through Christ, we have a bond like no other. We can ALL overcome our prejudices IN Christ. As our brothers and sisters in Charleston showed us, we need to always be ready to act in kindness, care and support toward each other even when terrible acts of hurt and maliciousness are pointed toward us. Let us be examples in Montgomery, AL to the world that we can LOVE and LIVE together BECAUSE of Christ.

 

I John 2:11
"But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness" .

 

 

Prayer Points:
1. Read Psalm 139:23-24-Ask the Lord if there is anything in your heart that needs to be removed that would cause you to not fully love others who are different.

2. Pray that our churches will be cleansed of any racist thoughts we might have both individually and corporately. There is NO ROOM for racism in the Body of Christ....none!

3. Pray that as we live our lives, go to work, go to church, go shopping....wherever we are, that we will treat ALL people the way God intends, as a beautifully formed creation of His. Treat others the way YOU want to be treated.

 

 

Rev. Alan Cross(pastor at Gateway Baptist) wrote a great book on Racism in the Southern Christian church. You might want to pick up a copy and read it.

Here is the link.

 

 When Heaven and Earth Collide

Poverty

FIVE ISSUES SERIES:
4. Poverty
 
"The poor with always be with us"....is a true statement. Poverty will be here til Jesus comes back and we are to follow Christ while it is here with us. Montgomery now has over 27% of it's population that live at or under the poverty level. Before you dismiss someone who lives in poverty, watch the video attached and see what you may have not known. EVEN people who are SCAMMING the system NEED Jesus. As followers of Christ, we are called to share the GOOD NEWS with EVERYONE. As followers of Christ, we don't have the option to "pick and choose" who we minister to. We don't! God loves EVERY single soul that is on this earth and wants to have fellowship with Him.

After you watch the video here are few things to think about and pray about regarding those living in poverty.
1. More than 98% of people who live in poverty or get assistance are NOT scamming the system. They are mostly people who work( this includes military families in Montgomery) who can't make ends meet.
2.The poverty line for a family of 4 in the United States is $24,250 for 2015.(the video is from 2010). Could your family of 4 live on this amount per year without having to make difficult decisions?
3. Not all people on assistance are Black Americans. Most Americans on assistance are Caucasian.
4 Pray for ministries in our area who don't just give a hand out but a hand up in teaching new ways of budgeting, getting more education which leads to better jobs and when needed, filing for assistance. There are many people who have been hard workers all their lives and are now faced with job loss, debilitating medical issues and other life changing experiences.
5. Pray for how YOU can be involved in helping people in poverty. Can you share some of the "things" you have acquired? Can you tutor a child this Fall? Share Christ through teaching a Bible study? There are many ways YOU can help someone who lives in poverty. 

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy". — Proverbs 31:8-9
"Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered". Proverbs 21:13

Poverty USA Tour

Though this is from the Catholic Campaign of Human Development, ALL Christians can join in helping families get basic needs met.