Pages

Sunday, April 5, 2015

An Easter Message

Happy Easter, my friends! I just wanted to take a moment to talk about something that has been on my mind. On this day, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. He is indeed risen, and that is a very good reason to celebrate. He died and rose again, so that we could be free from sin and receive everlasting life.

One of the things you will not find in any of the gospels is: except. The gospel says that he died so that those who believe would be saved. Nowhere does it say who could not believe. When the church came together after his resurrection there was only one church. Men, women, and children of various races and backgrounds came together to learn and preach the gospel. In simple terms, there was unity.

My prayer on this day is that there would be unity in the Body of Christ once again. As it stands, there is too much divisiveness. There is too much judgement. There is too much of us putting our own junk into the church and leaving too much of Jesus out. I believe unity is absolutely possible. I believe unity is possible between every denomination and every believer. In order to do so, we must be willing to love one another the way Jesus said. We must "love our neighbors as ourselves," and do so without any "excepts" or "buts."

There cannot be an "us" or "them" mentality. There is no us or them; there is only us. We cannot say I will love everyone, and then throw in an except. There cannot be any exceptions. We are called to love the unloved. We are called to love the outcasts. We are called to love the lost. We are called to bring hope to the hopeless. We are not called to love those in our own inner circles and no one outside of it. That kind of close-minded thinking is destroying the Body of Christ.

Look, no one said it was going to be easy. We all live life through the filter of our own eyes and experiences, but in order for unity to truly exist, we have to move beyond that. I, myself, am still working on this. I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but I'm still working toward being the person God wants me to be. I'm a Pentecostal pastor, with a background as a Methodist, who works in a Catholic school. Believe me when I say, I believe unity is possible. Is unity within reach? Well, not quite yet, but I do believe it's possible.

That is all for me, my friends. I hope you all are having an amazing Easter. Remember, God loves you all, no matter who you are or what your background is, and nothing can change that. If you are feeling down on this day, I pray that God would raise your spirits. You are a loved and blessed individual. I know what it is like to feel unloved, but know that God loves you through it all. No matter what. Blessings to you all, today and always!

No comments:

Post a Comment