The Mercy Papers (4)

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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Reclaim the Bow

Discovering Original Mercy

COPYRIGHT RESERVED, 2017

The Mercy Papers (4)

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In the beginning, we are told that everything God made was very good, and it was good for all of His creation.  There was abundance, and God was intimately available to Adam and Eve all times.  No struggles, no envy, no selfishness.  But it didn’t last.

The freedom God gave our progenitors allowed them to choose who and what they loved most.  They chose themselves as the ones they loved above all, even God, and that put an end to Paradise.  One cannot live in perfect joy if one cannot live within the boundaries God establishes for our protection and satisfaction.  Everything, quite literally, went to hell.  And it’s been sliding that way ever since.

We have been seeing strong vestiges of that hell in our country over the past few years, in a variety of ways, but in no way more troubling and threatening than the racial strife which rears its ugly head over and over again.  One crisis starts to simmer down and another immediately comes to the boil, and there never seems to be any resolution.  The problem, though, isn’t political, but spiritual: racism—in all of its forms, and from all of its sources—is rooted in the sin of choosing self over God, pride over love.  And we’re all infected and affected by it.

The Bible is clear about these matters.  God created us as we are, and His glory is magnified in the uniqueness and diversity of His creation.  If all that He created among the flowers was the rose, we might enjoy it, but we are impressed with the sunflower, the peony, and the daffodil as well.  If all that He created was the horse, we would be blessed, but we are abundantly touched when we also observe the owl, the butterfly, and the moose.  And above all of His other creative efforts, He created humanity to have a special relationship with Him.  If all He had created was people with white skin, we would be bereft of His greater glory in those whose skin pigments are different:  black, brown, yellow, red.  A rainbow of one color is not impressive—it is the multiple colors that make it beautiful.  So it is with our world.

Here is the truth:  to hate, or to be bigoted toward another person, because of their God-given appearance, insults the creative design and glory of God, and doing so is nothing less than sin, for which we shall be judged.  There is no room for this is the Christian’s life, and there is no place for it in the church.  It’s time we all stand up, speak up, and act up about this—without the retaliatory violence we see these days—but with firm insistence that racism go to where it belongs—to hell.

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TMP (4) is from B&B with major contributor Chuck Legvold who is Senior Pastor of Aurora, Illinois' Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Immediate financial assistance is imperative to begin the movement's initiatives.  Please send your seed money to The Grove (4210 Countryside Estates, Poplar Grove, Illinois 61065) or First Presbyterian Church (221 N. Main Street, Belvidere, Illinois 61008) and write "Reclaim the Bow" in the memo. 

You will be glad you did as we join hands to reclaim the bow and discover original mercy.

Forward, duplicate, and disseminate TMPs.

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Blessings and Love!

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Shatter the sound of silence!

Wake up!  Look up!  Stand up!  Speak up!  Act up for Jesus!

Salt!  Shine!  Leavenate!

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