So friends, should we keep all the foreigners out of America?  No refugees?  No immigrants? Or just no Muslims?  No, no, no, and no.  Wrong political solutions one and all.  To that they’re not-one-of-us mentality, it is written, Luke 9:50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”  But shrewd doves, there is one who is against us: the man of lawlessness.  And he likes lawlessness… and open borders. 

The man of lawlessness, often called the Antichrist, makes Christians nervous…as well he should.  He’s nothing for us to mess with.  But the good news is that Jesus will continue to do that for us ( Romans 16:20, 1 John 4:4).  Wise Christians will be alert Christians.

Who is the Antichrist, that man of lawlessness?

No one really knows, but we do know some things about him.  The word antichrist appears only four times in the New Testament–and all of them from the apostle John in his first and second letters. 

• 1 John 2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
• 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist– he denies the Father and the Son.
• 1 John 4:2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
• 2 John 1:7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Was John just being a reactionary?  Nope.  Because in the Bible, this same spirit of the antichrist and the man of lawlessness go by many different names (Daniel 8:23, Daniel 9:26, Daniel 11:21, Zechariah 11:16-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9, and Revelation 13:1).  Many writers speak of him, but the spirit of the antichrist always has one motive (to destroy the work of Christ in His Church) and his means (steal, kill, and destroy) manifest as a legion of assaults to separate Christian from Christian … and Christian from Christ.

To real Christians, Jesus reassures us:  John 10:29 My Father, who has given [disciples] to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

This promise applies for true Christians and Christ.  But separating Christians from Christians is another story entirely since not everyone calling “Lord, Lord” really thinks He is (Matthew 7:21).  Christian against Christian division–welcome to our world of social media.

Matthew 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The divisions start as an insidious bitter seed and when it germinates, it exploits the cracks in the Church and blows it wide open.  Dr. David Jeremiah writes in What in the World is Going On,

“Daniel 7 tells us that that Antichrist will not make a big splash when he arrives on the political scene.  He will not enter with a fanfare, announcing “I am here!  I will now take over!”  Instead he will squeeze his way in, little by little…he will attract little attention as he methodically begins to grasp more and more power.”

And here’s where open borders are a key. 

If he’s fighting big wars every time he wants to get in, that’s kind of a splash, isn’t it?  A deceiver will make something look good, loving, or noble until that bitter seed takes root.  Open borders masquerade as brotherly love and peace; they look like tolerance and compassion, and they get reported as something good when in fact, not really.  By removing the separation God gave us for protection of His Church, it pits Christian against Christian.  And it paves a wide open road for destruction from the Antichrist.

Borders and separate governments are not cruel at all, but may very well be the “one” and the genderless Greek expression translated he in  2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”  Once you have nothing–not even governmental law and order– holding lawlessness back, this passage says all hell breaks loose.  Look familiar?

You’d have to be an avid reader and a political junkie to know it, but dig deep and many Christians, whether they realize the danger or not, are aligning themselves with open borders policies, an open society, and a globalist agenda.  They’re unwittingly siding with the coming Antichrist and as much as I don’t want to do it, it’s why I’ve got a bit more writing to do.  Jude 20-23. 

====

This present series includes:

Innocent as Doves in a Politicized Church

Wick Trimmed and Oil Ready for the End Times

Doves, Refugees, and the Antichrist

Open Borders and the Man of Lawlessness

George Soros and Open Borders

I am deeply concerned about the Politicized Church because I believe it’s destroying Christianity and it’s using well-meaning doves and helpless refugees to do it.  There’s a wolf in there and sometimes people can’t see the wolf for the sheep.  Let me just ask you all one question:

What does Jesus think of Islam?” 

Boil it down, peaceful or radical, moderate, progressive, or fundamentalist Islam…does it matter?  And would Jesus disapprove of Islam in the same way God did Baal worship (1 Kings 18:17-40)?  If so, why on earth would any Christian want to cozy up to it?   Verse 21

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.

Do we have two opinions or do Christians follow Christ?  Oh you say, the Islamic refugees are helpless.  Some surely are.  Maybe many, even most.  And that’s why lots of idealistic Christians jump on the Save our Refugees bandwagon as innocent as doves. Understandable. Even laudable…provided these doves are also as shrewd as snakes. 

Are all refugees equal to the Politicized Church?  

Some famous pastors like Tim Keller and Max Lucado (both becoming vocal during the Presidential election) say “Let the Syrian refugees in!” never uttering a word about the barred Cubans stranded off the coast on January 12th.  Other Christians like Franklin Graham are providing refugees food and safe havens nearer their homeland as Christian compassion all over the globe, including Syria.  Equally doves, are they not?  Ah, but are they equally as discerning and shrewd?

Shrewd means seeing that Jesus hates the practice of Islam every bit as much as He hates any other kind of idolatry and false teaching.  And it’s not just Old Testament, get-over-it-Barb stuff.

Revelation 2:12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live– where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city– where Satan lives. 14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Shrewd means seeing a similar pagan compromise today as Christianity’s decline gives rise to secularism and Islam.  Peaceful Islam or not, the culture of Germany cannot withstand the social pressure from this many religious people building mosques.  Are Germans more or less likely to learn about Christ in a country closing a last gasp of churches and opening mosques?  Is that what Jesus wants for America?

Christians, there’s a difference between being shrewd and “Islamophobic” which is just an epithet designed to separate weak Christians from their faith. 

There is no anti-Muslim irrationality in asking what Jesus thinks of Islam and as a Christian, thinking likewise.  It’s simply recognition that our two faith traditions only have Abraham in common. Our differences are day and night.

As we act in dove-hearted ways to love refugees, only some fleeing persecution, please be shrewd as snakes so you don’t find yourselves sucked in to the wrong side of the spiritual battle.  The Antichrist wants open borders since that’s how he extends his rule. It’s called conquest and this invasion can be peacefully subversive… or not. (Daniel 11:36-45)  

Daniel 11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage [the Antichrist] in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. 41 He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. 42 He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape.

Shrewd faithful Christians guard their separation from spiritual darkness (spirit of the antichrist, 1 John 4:3).  It’s called holiness and in the end, it’s not about your dove-like motives or your good intentions.  It’s about what you did.  But you don’t need to take my word for it.

Revelation 2:23b Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. ..29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Are you listening?  And do you hear?

====

This present series includes:

Innocent as Doves in a Politicized Church

Wick Trimmed and Oil Ready for the End Times

Doves, Refugees, and the Antichrist

Open Borders and the Man of Lawlessness

George Soros and Open Borders

Are you wick trimmed and oil ready for the end times?  I am.  It’s very interesting how the end times are suddenly on so many people’s minds.  I’m getting emails and reading comments on news stories that are all talking about the end times and how we’re in them. 

Is it overblown?  Perhaps.  After all, technically, the end times have been around since Jesus rose from the dead.  Nevertheless, God calls us to be ready for the end time to beat all end times. That end of the world as we know it.

Scripture gives us clues to that final apocalypse so we’ll be wick trimmed and oil ready and not be taken by surprise when it happens.  None of those clues are Obama, Hillary, Trump, Sanders, or Putin.  Breathe deep and chill on politics for a bit.  The clues are from the lips of Christ Himself:

Matthew 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, ‘and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. “

He begins by talking about deceivers and then goes on to talk about other signs and what to do (Matthew 24:3-51), especially regarding false teachers and false prophets.  He points to wisdom and faith and asks,

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. (Matthew 24:45-46)

And then He tells this parable: 

Matthew 25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Were the wise virgins mean or lacking compassion?  Or are they called wise for a reason?  What about you?  Are you devoting your oil to burn up on politics?  Or are you both wick trimmed and oil ready to be found watching and faithfully working so the end times don’t catch you off duty?

====

This present series includes:

Innocent as Doves in a Politicized Church

Wick Trimmed and Oil Ready for the End Times

Doves, Refugees, and the Antichrist

Open Borders and the Man of Lawlessness

George Soros and Open Borders

It’s shaping up to be another bad year for the black community in Chicago: 51 murders, 234 shooting incidents, and 299 shooting victims in January alone. To resolve it, we’re going to need a few Resurgent men who see Resurgent solutions don’t follow the path of all the failed solutions that got us here. We got here by looking to failed solution peddlers, trusting that the loudest protestor is the wisest physician for healing a community, and by throwing our time and resources in the fire of protest instead of fueling productive solutions outside of a politicized church.

Resurgent men aren’t like Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson who is calling for a culture of accountability among gun offenders. He’s still looking at what got us here: 

“I’ve talked to my colleagues across the country,” Johnson told reporters this morning. “They’re seeing the same things that we’re seeing, too many guns on the street…The way we get the numbers down is to hold repeat gun offenders for the crimes that they commit”… Johnson repeated his request to President Trump: If the President wants to help, he can send federal money for jobs programs, for mental health, and also send more federal agents.”

Same old answer.  Resurgent solutions require the personal touch of God’s church and community stepping up to offer an alternative vision of black manhood than just guns, gangs, and incarceration.

“The Vice Lords are ready to be a mentor. Is Chicago ready to a mentor? The Gangster Disciples [are] ready to be a role model. Is Chicago ready to be a role model? The [Four]-Corner Hustlers are ready to be a family. Is the city of Chicago ready to be a family?…You give the kids of Chicago a positive alternative with a caring adult, they’ll go the positive route.” –Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Close, Mayor. What’s missing are dads. Manhood needs to be guided as AJ Watson suggests:

Part of the allure of gangs is brotherhood—even if it’s one filled with violence and dead-end prospects. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, most members join gangs between the ages of 12 and 15. It’s a delicate time, and in at-risk environments where positive adult male role models are scarce, due in part to high rates of incarceration and death, many boys are left searching for guidance on their journey into manhood. It helps to have strong male mentors meet those outstretched arms before the streets do.

AJ Watson’s answer is mentoring:

“A mentored youth emerges from the [mentoring] experience more vibrant and empowered, society gains more hard-working contributors and we get to attend more graduations than untimely funerals.”

“Mentorship is a critical part of a young person’s transition into adulthood. Every kid needs a guide. Putting a caring adult squarely in the lives of each of these young men at such an important stage is a strong message that these young kids matter and these communities matter.”

Yes, money doesn’t buy mentors. Love buys mentors. God’s Resurgent solutions are simple: a guide is better than a map, and a church home is better than the streets.

Resurgent man Pastor Marlon Lock understands this and is doing his part not too far north in Milwaukee, WI.

“Unity Gospel House of Prayer has launched a new “No Empty Seats” campaign… Pastor Lock and other faith leaders in Milwaukee have answered the call to serve as an outlet and source of spiritual guidance for residents. “The reality is our job is to reach the lost and unsaved. If we can have more people in the church, we have less crimes we have to deal with in our city,” Pastor Lock said.”

Healing of communities divided by race, violence, crime, and fatherlessness means seeing why young men are alone and without hope. Until the next generation reclaims black manhood and fatherhood, they will need spiritual guidance from Resurgent men of God who will be a father and a mentor to reclaim the family from the ground up, spiritually.

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”– which is the first commandment with a promise– 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

These are God’s Resurgent solutions and they start with God’s love, close to home.

===

• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

The Politicized Church takes another form: the innocent as doves mentality that doesn’t accept also the shrewdness of snakes. It forms a Christian Bubble in which the captives fail to see that Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves ” (Matthew 10:16). 

Why command both? 

Jesus is not only the Son of God, but the Author of Reality. To be innocent as doves (and dancing with wolves!) without also having the commanded shrewdness of snakes is naïve at best and increasingly becomes the operating definition of a fool. It is this Christian Bubble—that religion of nice idealism where street smarts have no place—that causes Christians, even the Pope, to do very foolish things in the name of tolerance and magnanimity.

I totally get—from within the Christian Bubble—why Pope Francis would wash the feet of Muslims.  I’ve read John 13 and I know what it says and whose feet were being washed. And I know what it doesn’t say.

Less easy to understand is why Pope John Paul II would kiss a Koran, and Scottish cathedrals would allow Islamic prayers from within the church.

I concur completely with Reverend Gavin Ashenden who resigned as Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen on account of this “not-shrewd” action of the Scottish Cathedral. Ashenden wrote,

I resigned in order to be able to speak more freely about the struggle that Christianity is facing in our culture.

I had no idea that there were plans afoot by a Scottish Cathedral to “reach out to Muslims” by scrapping a Bible reading from their worship on the Feast of the Epiphany (when Christ’s Lordship is celebrated as the Light of the World) and replacing it with a part of the Koran that denied Jesus was the Son of God.

But when it did happen, it represented such a serious repudiation of allegiance to Christ and the Gospels, that it could not be left unchallenged.

Leaving aside what kind of Christian would be happy to bring into the Ministry of the Word a passage from the Koran used to repudiate the claims of the Gospels, it represented one more step along a road, which if the Church continues to follow, will speed up the destruction of Christianity in our country.

Wow and Amen. 

What the well-meaning doves want people to believe is that they’re just nice, considerate, open minded, tolerant, multicultural, and sympathetic to Islamic refugees. The shrewd-as-snakes missing component is that communication has both a source and recipient.  How it is received dwarfs how it was intended.

Make no mistake, to followers of Islam, washing feet and Koran kissing means Christianity submits to the authority of Islam. Make no mistake, to followers of Islam, their prayer denying Jesus is the Son of God in that Scottish Cathedral is nothing less than their hostile act of spiritual warfare in which they believe they’ve emerged victorious. As they see it, Jesus bows to Muhammad. And the jihad is on its way to Rome…just as they’ve announced they want to do and the black ISIS flag won’t just be photo-shopped onto the Vatican–they think they are nearing its imminent reality and they’re doing it with the blessing of fools.

I’m not saying stop caring about refugees because Jesus would remind Christians that we’re all aliens and strangers (1 Peter 2:11).  But He’s also the same God who knew the threats posed by lawless people and even today commands us to have nothing to do with lawlessness (Ephesians 5:11, 2 Timothy 3:1-5). 

Maybe I’ll talk more soon about why I think the man of lawlessness of the last days may be on the move and how millions of Muslim migrants may be part of it.  But for now, real Christians don’t let their brothers and sisters drive drunk on idealism when they can be innocent as doves, yes, but remembering they are likewise commanded….to be as shrewd as snakes.

====

This present series includes:

Innocent as Doves in a Politicized Church

Wick Trimmed and Oil Ready for the End Times

Doves, Refugees, and the Antichrist

Open Borders and the Man of Lawlessness

George Soros and Open Borders

Perhaps now is a good time to admit that the Church is not a magic potion for Resurgence.  Sit in a pew taking Communion and problems of racial strife just disappear?  Sorry, I live in the real world in which church attendance doesn’t substitute for a changed heart.  In the real world, the Christian Church is losing its significance for many people.  Studies show those with no religious affiliation are the fastest growing group but Islam is surging in America and worldwide and by 2050 is expected to surpass Christianity as the world’s largest religious group.  It’s time we woke up to the problems of a Politicized Church and what it means for the Christian faith, and what it means to Resurgence.

It’s a strange calling, to stand on a virtual soapbox at the crossroad of culture and faith and do my best to speak into both.  This calling is what prompts me to conclude that “Politicized Church” is a two word problem that covers the entire racial and geographical spectrum.  And it’s precisely the Politicized Church that is killing Christianity.  Consider these words from Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, the Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.  As a result of his studies, he concluded,

“The Black Church, as we’ve known it or imagined it, is dead. Of course, many African Americans still go to church… But the idea of this venerable institution as central to black life and as a repository for the social and moral conscience of the nation has all but disappeared.”

The profundity of this can’t be overstated.

The Black Church once elevated men and women from slavery to children of God status, but now has suffered along with the black family as our solutions have shifted from God to government. Make no mistake. It’s connected.

Glaude’s reasons for the demise of the Black Church are these:

1. “First, black churches have always been complicated spaces. …
2. Second, African American communities are much more differentiated. The idea of a black church standing at the center of all that takes place in a community has long since passed away…black religious institutions and beliefs stand alongside a number of other vibrant non-religious institutions and beliefs. Moreover, we are witnessing an increase in the numbers of African Americans attending [other] churches… non-denominational congregations [which] often “sound” a lot like black churches…
3. Thirdly, and this is the most important point, we have witnessed the routinization of black prophetic witness….and we need only point to past deeds for evidence of this fact…In each instance, a backward glance defines the content of the church’s stance in the present…But such a church loses it power. Memory becomes its currency. Its soul withers from neglect. The result is all too often church services and liturgies that entertain, but lack a spirit that transforms, and preachers who deign for followers instead of fellow travelers in God.”

Benjamin Watson notes this in his own way (the difference between Resurgence which is forward looking to tomorrow’s history-makers versus a backward looking memory and soul withering) when he writes,

“Black lives DON’T matter when the only time we learn about black heritage is black history month. And even then the same characters are paraded, as great and important as they are, as if they are all we have to be proud of. A people who don’t know their history, lack identity, and consequently, a positive self concept. Ancient and modern history, religious and secular, is riddled with contributions by Africans and blacks, but are many times only discovered through personal investigation outside of traditional academia.”

It’s why I began this series not even thinking about Black History Month.  I see God working Resurgence even as Glaude sees clearly that “Black America stands at the precipice. African American unemployment is at its highest in 25 years. Thirty-five percent of our children live in poor families. Inadequate healthcare, rampant incarceration, home foreclosures, and a general sense of helplessness overwhelm many of our fellows. Of course, countless local black churches around the country are working diligently to address these problems.”

Reading his paper carefully, however, what these churches are pursuing as his solution is rebirth to a re-engaged Politicized Church, not the Gospel.

Not everyone sees a Politicized Church as a good thing, or even an effective one politically.  Charles Blain, contributor at the Hill writes,

“But directives pushed from the pulpit on Sunday mornings don’t necessarily translate into votes at the polls any more. The ability to mobilize millions of black American voters — the source of their political might — began during the civil rights era…[and unless] more leaders in the black church recognize that blindly supporting one party, which has done nothing to earn that support, is not benefiting those that they serve, the church will continue to lose its political influence.”

And I’d argue that political influence is the very thing which has been corrosive to the Black Church, the black family, and the black community in the same way as it does for any church choosing to be a Politicized Church over one that keeps the Gospel central.

This of course is nothing new. (Galatians 1:6-12). So let us be like the Apostle Paul who was very careful about the Gospel that saves.  Our churches can do as Paul did:

 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ,

and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)

Let’s resolve to do the same.  We’ll all be a lot better off.

===

• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

Toggling between those who identify the problems to those who are trying—in their corner of the world—to solve them, today I’d like to highlight Benjamin Watson. He first came to my particular attention (culturally) after the riots in Ferguson, MO and his articulate, heartfelt, and sensible Facebook post went viral. Then, when he stood up and spoke at the recent March for Life in the Mall at Washington, DC, I decided to highlight this Resurgent man because any Resurgent man like Benjamin Watson values life.

He values life enough to stand up and say so, not just at the March for Life, but also in his book Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us. He writes,

“The solution to the problem of race in America will be found only by ordinary people, “good” people, looking inside themselves, being honest about the assumptions and biases that have formed, and beginning to change what’s in their hearts.”

His wise introspection goes beyond just race, though. In a recent interview,

“Baltimore Ravens tight end Ben Watson calls upon men to take responsibility for their actions and protect women and young girls from facing the devastation of abortion.

Watson, who addressed the tens of thousands of pro-life activists participating in the 2017 March for Life, has been speaking out about abortion and, particularly, the disproportionate number of abortions in the black community.

‘When it comes to the black community, we represent a larger proportion of abortions than I would like, than any of us would like,’ he explains. ‘And so, to me, it’s a big challenge to men, as well – not just black men, not white men, but just men in general – to step up and protect women, to protect young girls, to protect the pre-born.’

‘Men were made to be protectors and caretakers, and a lot of what we’re seeing when it comes to this topic would be a thing of the past if our men would stand up and be men,’ Watson urges.”

Benjamin Watson epitomizes Resurgent Men in action. If he’d get highlighted by mainstream media, his words of encouragement could go a long way toward healing American families, black or white. His affirmation of what manhood looks like is a throwback to a different time, a better time–and frankly, it’s time now that this nasty parenthesis in culture came to an end in which men are relegated to the sidelines while women try to play every position on the field. The Do-it-Yourself-and-Do-it-Alone feminism has been a real problem for too long.

I’m one woman who will be glad to see the day when manhood comes back into style. When manhood, genuine manhood, comes back, we’ll see healing of families and healing of the races. God meant for men to be men and not just benchwarmers in the game of life while their sons and daughters get raised on Facebook Live with the morality of gangs and rap musicians.

As Watson says,

“The problem of race is deep and wide and requires seismic change. But if we look to government to solve it, we might as well feel hopeless. If we look corporate America to solve it, we’ll be waiting a long, long time. And if we agree with Ta-Nehisi Coates, who tentatively suggests that “the only work that will matter, will be the work done by us,” then we will truly despair, for we know how well that has worked. If we follow that track, we’ll quickly add in disbelief, as he did, “Or perhaps not.”

As I’ve said, the problem of race is not “out there.” It’s “in here,” in the human heart. And though there is no task in heaven or on earth more difficult than changing the human heart, I believe in the one who can do it. It requires a supernatural solution.

Yes, I believe in God. You see, I know how God can change a person’s heart.”

And that’s why Benjamin Watson is one amazing Resurgent man who values life and knows that true life will keep us from despair.   It will keep us from discouragement as we press on to value the life present in men and women, teens, and babies.  Black and white.  Young and old. 

A Resurgent man like Benjamin Watson values life because he knows who gives it.

1 John 2:13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world– the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does– comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

===

• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

If we’re talking about the importance of being the kind of people who offer a hand up and out of poverty, why would some men like the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board member Jason Riley author a book called Please Stop Helping Us? Maybe his subtitle makes it clear: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.

I know the word Liberal and its opposite Conservative unnecessarily provoke strong emotions, so let’s just put it this way:

Resurgent men aren’t against help. Resurgent men identify the problems and sort through the solutions to find ones that work and those that don’t.  They’re highly pragmatic about Resurgence regardless of labels.

Just like many of the black authors and activists covered so far, Jason Riley wants blacks to succeed period. Solutions devised by white people so whites could feel good about themselves won’t solve the problem for blacks. Riley looks at failed solutions and in Jason Riley: The RealClearReligion Interview  he identifies the real problems as 

bad public policies have contributed to the breakdown of the black family” and indeed a “collapse of black culture.”

Riley crystalizes the problem into the most basic unit of family as the conveyor of culture and when that’s broken, that’s what must be restored. In the interview, Riley was asked “What inspired you to write this book?” and he responded,

“I saw a need for a new generation of blacks to be saying these things about the impact of black culture — particularly in our inner cities and our ghettos — on these black outcomes that we’re seeing. I’m not breaking any new ground here. There are people like Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, and Walter Williams, and others who have been saying these things for decades. I thought it was necessary for a younger generation to continue saying these things for a younger generation of readers.”

And of course, for this Seminary Gal, what I found interesting was when Riley was asked, “Do you think the role models you found in church are missing today?” he replied,

“I don’t know that they’re missing. I’m not sure that they carry the sway with today’s young people that they did with me. But they’ve been there. The church is still there. It’s still a very important institution in the black community. More broadly speaking, you have a family breakdown issue going on. I don’t know that the church can compensate entirely for that.

The real problem is the breakdown of the black family. One of the statistics I like to remind people of is that as late as 1960, two out of three black children were raised in two-parent homes. Today, more than 70 percent of black children are not. In some of these ghettos, it runs as high as 80 or 90 percent of black kids living in single-parent homes. I think that has a lot to do with those bad outcomes we see in terms of school completion, in terms of involvement in the criminal justice system, drug use, and teen pregnancy, and so forth. It’s the lack of fathers in homes raising boys, teaching them what it means to be men, and teaching them what it means to be black. I think the breakdown of the family has been extremely detrimental to black culture.”

So what’s wrong with the policies that have been implemented to help the black community? Riley writes,

“In theory these efforts are meant to help. In practice they become barriers to moving forward. … People of goodwill want to see more black socioeconomic advancement, but time and again the empirical data show that current methods and approaches have come up short.”

The current methods and approaches have been grounded in politics, but as Riley points out, “History, in other words, provides little indication, let alone assurance, that political success is a prerequisite of upward mobility.”

In the community of Resurgent men, we need people to clearly articulate what works and what doesn’t. If the breakdown of the family is at the heart of the problem, how do we restore the importance of family to the black community?  Well, first let’s just admit that it’s not a problem confined to the black community. The American family is a mess. Some like Riley, Steele, and Williams write to identify the problem. But stay tuned, the solutions are closer to home.

It’ll be found in the God-ordained family unit as recorded in the final verse of the Old Testament through the prophet Malachi (Malachi 4:1-6).  The solution to distress will be with fathers just as God–our spiritual Father– foretold about the role of John the Baptist (Luke 1:13-17) before the Day of the Lord comes, it’s Resurgence!

“And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6)

===

• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-and-black-manhoods-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/steve-harvey-resurgence-and-faith/
• http://seminarygal.com/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/benjamin-carson-on-success-and-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/jim-brown-and-black-resurgence/
• http://seminarygal.com/shelby-steele-resurgence-and-political-correctness/
• http://seminarygal.com/walter-williams-and-the-resurgent-solution/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-jason-riley-analyzes-the-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-man-benjamin-watson-values-life/
• http://seminarygal.com/politicized-church-a-two-word-problem/
• http://seminarygal.com/resurgent-solutions-of-guiding-and-mentoring/

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who help themselves by climbing from the backs of others to reach the top and leave it there like the evil Lotso Bear in Toy Story 3 who tries to keep the other toys from escaping as he rules from the top of the heap.  And then there those who know the teamwork of then reaching back down to help others up to the top, too.

I see it all the time, even as a woman in ministry.  Two kinds of people.  The one kind missing so much joy they would get from helping others.

Instead there are people achieving some level of success who suddenly forget that it’s God’s grace that brought them there.  And why were they blessed?  In order that they might be a blessing … to others.

These kind of people view power and money as a zero sum game—a fixed pie in which their giving someone a little helping hand means they have less in theirs.  Not only is this wrong, but their perception problem has–at its very heart–a core of selfishness.

To stay selfish, they cling to all kinds of failed assumptions.

Frankly, the hypotheses have been tested for years. Every black author and civil rights figure I’ve discussed so far in the Resurgence series knows these failures and doesn’t buy the failed hypotheses. They’re one kind of men—the Resurgent type of men who don’t leave their brothers behind. It’s how they climbed successfully and now, they are trying to be the kind of blacks who reach out to help others up. Man to man, not with a mano a mano adversarial outlook of the zero sum game, but as a genuine help up and a very real guide who can show them how. 

They don’t believe in the I-got-mine attitude of walking away, heartlessly waving goodbye as some map of a theoretical way out flutters to the ground that might as well read, “You’re on your own, pal.”  That’s what many politicians do.

Water Williams writes, “My argument has always been that the political arena is largely irrelevant to the interests of ordinary black people.”

He sees the failed hypothesis: “Much of the 1960s and ’70s civil rights rhetoric was that black political power was necessary for economic power. But the nation’s most troublesome and dangerous cities, which are also cities with low-performing and unsafe schools and poor-quality city services, have been run…for nearly a half-century — with blacks having significant political power, having been mayors, city councilors and other top officials, such as superintendents of schools and chiefs of police.”

Like Shelby Steel, Williams sees that the color of any official’s skin–even the President’s skin–isn’t a cure-all.  Yet, colorblind policies can be implemented to help. Power residing with the people can be vitally important. That’s why Williams says reassuringly,

“Panic among some blacks over the upcoming Trump presidency is unwarranted. Whoever is the president has little or no impact on the living conditions of ordinary black people, even when that president is a black person, as the Obama presidency has demonstrated. The overall welfare of black people requires attention to devastating problems that can be solved only at the family and community levels.”

Sure, there have been activist politicians, even preachers, promoting themselves as the perfect solution, but the main thing they’ve proven is that there are two kinds of people: ones who use their position to help others up and those who reached the top and do a whole Lotso nothin’ to help the racial divide.

Of the two kinds of people, we need more Resurgent men who will see the expanding universe of hope and the rising tide for all by reaching out to offer a hand up, not with a political solution, but with a brotherly one.   We’re in this together.

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26)