Reconciling Ministries Network

A Father-to-Father Conversation

By Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell

On Friday, June 17, 2005, Rev. Norman J. Kansfield, the President of New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey, the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America deposed him from the office of General Synod Professor of Theology, suspended him from the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament and removed him as President of the Seminary.

Why? On June 19, 2004, Kansfield presided over the marriage of his daughter to another woman. The marriage took place in Massachusetts, a state that has declared same-gender couples have a right to marry.

I read of the above and on Father's Day, June 19, 2005 I wrote another one of my unsolicited e-mails that I titled; "A Father's Day Connection; To Whom It May Concern and To All Who Ought To Be Concerned." (This e-mail is one of my writings that has been included in "Something Within, Words By Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell", published by the Church Within A Church Movement. Available by Googling, Church Within A Church).

This week I spoke with Norman Kansfield via phone. Grace and I now live in New Jersey and since we make frequent trips to New Brunswick to care for our grandchild, I wanted to give a copy of Something Within with my article, to the New Brunswick Theological School Library. I thought it best to contact Norman Kansfield to alert him of my article and my intent, and he and I had some wonderful moments of phone conversation. He is now teaching at another Seminary and I look forward to other conversations with him.

From whence comes my Father-to-Father concern? I participated in the marriage of my son who is the father of our grandchild. The marriage took place in New Brunswick and I as a United Methodist Minister  was neither deposed or suspended from ministry because of my participation. My son's marriage is considered "traditional", while the same gender marriage of Norman Kansfield's daughter is viewed as being "nontraditional" and "incompatible with Christian teaching".(The Reformed Church in America version).

I wrote this in my article; "I have been told there is something 'extra special' about the chemistry of relationship between father and daughter. As a father of sons, I have not experienced that, but as the grandfather of a little girl, I have discovered there is something special about girls and their relationship with their father (my son) and with their grandfather, (me)"

How will the Church; United Methodist or Reformed, atone for their prohibitions against their clergy participating in marriages (or civil unions), when two persons of the same gender, want to publicly declare that the love that is of God; expressed in Jesus Christ, is the source of the love that they offer to and share with each other? 

Grandpa Gil

The Academy Awards and Lent

Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell

The 81st annual Academy Awards provided me with substance that will provide reflection material as I participate in my 75th Lenten Season. (Of course in my 75 years the meaning of Lent did not "take" until I was in my teenage years). But, I celebrate how blessed I am to have lived to experience 75 years of Lent! What is the "substance" that will be part and parcel of my Lenten journey?

First, as Dustin Lance Black responded to the Oscar he received for doing the screenplay Milk, he spoke to Gay and Lesbian young people everywhere. He reminded them that they were loved and accepted, despite the stands of some churches; "They were loved by God". He said this because the life and commitment of Harvey Milk was a source of inspiration for his own life and encouraged him to accept himself.

Second, as Sean Penn received an Oscar for his portrayal of the role of  Harvey Milk, he spoke of the few anti-Gay protestors outside the event. He expressed the hope that they and those who voted for California's Proposition 8 that forbid same gender marriage, would reflect on what their vote said about the humanity and rights of Gay people and what that communicates to their grandchildren.

Third, The words of Dustin Black and Sean Penn made me think of some other words. Alex Haley in ROOTS, The saga of an American family, (The story of his African family that became a TV classic) describes a naming ceremony. The first child of Omoro and Binta Kinte was named Kunta. Haley describes Omoro, "Carrying little Kunta in his strong arms, he walked to the edge of the village, lifted his baby up with his face to the heavens and said softly, 'Behold - the only thing greater than yourself.'"

Fourth, the above caused me to return again to those words in the 139th Psalm: "For it was you (God) who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Verses 13, 14)

My hope for this Season of Lent is that I and my sisters and brothers of faith, will allow the movie MILK, the story told in ROOTS, and the words about the God of creation in Psalm 139, to  find a place in our Lenten reflection. May we prayerfully re-visit the legislation of The United Methodist Church that denies the "Christian compatibility" of persons whose love is expressed in same gender relationships.

If we believe that all humans are "fearfully and wonderfully made", how do we dare legislate that this does not apply to LGBT persons who express their love in same gender ways? We say that some persons, because of their sexual orientation and same gender intimacy are outside the circle of Christian teaching. Does this mean that after Omoro had held the baby Kunta up to God and later discovered that Kunta was same gender loving, he could assume the role of God and cast his son out of the family and the religious circle?

We know that "God works in mysterious ways". Are there some Lenten messages that God would have us hear that are to be found in the 2009 Academy Awards?  God only knows.

Grandpa Gil

At the Dawn of Lent

  by Peter L. DeGroote

Salt is good (and salty)—if salt becomes bland, with what will your renew it?
Mark 9:50a See also: Matthew 5:13; Luke 14:34.

1. This saying thrills serious students of Jesus' teachings. All three synoptic gospels report it. Short and pithy, it was remembered and passed on in the early oral tradition before any gospels were written. The minor differences in context only serve to emphasize its central focus on personal and group disciplines. 

A.  In Mark, the saying is immediately followed by the words Maintain ‘salt’ among yourselves and be at peace with one another. Coming at the end of a series of teaching on personal disciplines, it highlights their necessity in maintaining the vitality of the community. 

B. Matthew couples it with a saying about the early Christian community being the light of the world in order to provide a conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount (5:1-16). The emphasis is on the disciplines necessary to share the values of Jesus’ good news with the world around it. 

C. In Luke, it concludes the 14th chapter which deals with conflicts, both with religious leaders and with ideas and values that are common to most human societies. As such, its emphasis is on the personal and group disciplines necessary to keep Jesus’ teachings alive.

2. As all gospels agree on the need for disciplines, comment on some elements of the saying is worthwhile at the dawn of the Lenten season.  

A. "You are the salt…" reflects the early church’s belief that by following Jesus’ teachings they were living life as God intended; that is, they possessed the saltiness, zing, or bite that gave human life its unique characteristics in God's creation. Many Christians agree with that view while never having used those words.  However, it is important to balance that attitude with Jesus’ rejection of all ideas that created structures of superiority and inferiority, worthiness and unworthiness, clean and unclean among peoples. 

B. "…of the earth…”, earth meaning “world”. Reflecting Jesus’ rejection of the idea that the world is the domain of evil, it is an assertion that the world belongs to God. To say that followers of Jesus are the salt of the earth is to say that they carry in their minds and emotions the values and attitudes that express God's Presence in and love for the world that God created.

C. "If the salt loses its taste (its zing) how can it be restored?" The salty are those who trust in God’s Presence and activity. If they lose that trust how can they recover it? Matthew adds: "It then has no further use than to be thrown out and stomped on."  While we buy pure salt, in Jesus’ day salt was mixed with what we call impurities. After the salt was extracted, nothing of value was left.

3. We are presented with a stark challenge: If we, either individually or communally, have lost the values and way of life that Jesus taught, of what use are we? A worthy question as we contemplate the disciplines of Lent. 

 

Mother/Wife as the height of life?

By Darrius Hills

A few weekends ago, I went to Michigan Ave. to walk around as I normally do. While I was at Water Tower Place, I saw a mother with 4 young daughters. They were walking in front of me headed to the main area of the mall. The picture of this mother and her daughters was interesting, and I couldn't help but note a few things. ALL the young girls had toy carriages full of small babies. This was odd coupled with the fact that just earlier, I saw another set of young girls with their mother with the same toy carriage full of babies (I don't know if this is/was a new toy to emerge this year). I was particularly attuned to the comments of one of the mothers: "take care of your babies; this will be good practice for later!"

In one of my classes, Wesley and the 19th Century, we continued discussion on the struggles faced by women seeking ordination in the early Methodist movement(s). The professor raised the observation that many women in this time period sought male clergy for a husband--that it was indeed an "honor" to be considered the wife of a minister--to support his ministry--even though for a long time women would be denied the public leadership afforded to male clergy. Yet, the consensus at the turn of the 19th century was that the role of wife was the best suited identity a woman could possess.

A few things---

The issue that I've always raised is one of self-agency and self-naming. The beautiful Audre Lorde said it best: "If I didn't define myself for myself, I'd be crushed into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." As I consider what I observed in the mall that day and as I consider the information from the lecture, I find myself wondering how women are learning to and/or choosing to define themselves and their identities: is it via their own consciousness--their own sense of agency or is it rather from heternormative perspectives on motherhood/marriage?

What I saw with the young girls seems to be an indicator of female socialization into heternormative notions of motherhood. Consider the mother's comments linking the play of the young girls to preparation for their future (i.e. "it'll be practice for later"). This has several implications. First, it makes the girls' childhood recreation a type of training ground for motherhood; in this sense, the girls were being "bred" into mothers. Secondly, and perhaps what I'm most afraid of, comments such as these ingrained into young girls minds over time, imply that motherhood (and being a wife) is the height of what it means to be woman. In a word, breeding children within the confines of a marriage is the essence--the zenith of womanhood.

This is partly why I was also troubled by the comments from the lecture in class; there was (is) an ingrained social trend that suggested that women are best suited for motherhood and thus, being confined to the role of "wife"--a formless entity only rationally conceived when united with another greater entity--the male. This is troublesome because there are still traces of this ideology that permeate social and relational structures in most contemporary societies. I do not want to diminish those who seek to be or who are wives or mothers. My problem is the limiting of female possibilities and capacities to domesticated roles (which more often than not are confined to the private sphere).

Is being a wife or a mother REALLY the best that women can hope for? No. Is being a wife or a mother a bad thing? No; but it certainly isn't the only life option. It isn't the only way women can assert or develop self-agency or identity. There seem to be some parallels here with Victor Anderson's critique of "ontological blackness." He suggests that there are many dimensions and possibilities of Black life--of Black capacity. Therefore, to have an understanding (self-identity) of Blackness, viewed solely in terms of oppression and discrimination, is too limiting and alienating.

Using a similar thought process here, I'd say that limited understandings of the capacities and possibilities of female personhood would be alienating as well as do NOT give full justice to wonderful gifts and creative powers that women possess beyond those associated with males. (motherhood/marriage).

Is motherhood/marriage the height of life for women? No. It is but one among so many others. What these other options are and how they are to be determined is solely up to women.

Devotion: Where Brother Will Love Brother

Matt 26:36-40 (NRSV)

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?

Matthew, with few words, describes for us the struggles, grief, and disappointment of Jesus in the garden as he prays, seeking permission to skip this part of his life, his ministry. For years I understood this passage as Christ wanting to avoid what he knew would be embarrassing, difficult and painful. I understood this passage through my own life experiences: simply, when I did not want to do something, I looked for a way to avoid it. When my mother developed Alzheimer’s, I agonized with her over the loss of independence, then memory and finally her very identity and self. While I continued to love her, care for her, support her, and assist her, I too prayed: Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. This was a difficult time and I too wished to pass the cup. I thought I was simply doing as Christ did.

Then, last summer I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A small cancer, an early cancer, an easily treated cancer. Early in my treatment, I reread this passage and I saw a new possibility. Christ was not agonizing over the difficulty of the task; Christ was not dreading the pain or embarrassment as I had always thought. Christ loved his disciples, Christ loved his work and ministry and being with the crowds and maybe, just maybe, Christ was agonizing over the thought of having to leave all those whom he loved. Facing the loss of both life and those relationships I treasured, I too fell to my knees and prayed: “Oh God, if it is possible, may this be taken from me.” The gift of life, love, community, relationships and sharing became very precious.

“For God so loved the world. . .” How can we begin to imagine the depth of God’s love as it is shared in Christ Jesus? I had a glimmer- a glimpse- of God’s deep and abiding love for all people as I watched Jesus agonizing in the garden- not in fear and dread but with cutting pain by the realization that he was to leave his precious brothers and sisters.

We now see only in part- but with each precious gift of experience, understanding, and clarity, I am drawn more deeply into the Kingdom where the Lion will lie down with lamb, and where brother will love brother. The love of God, fully experienced, does indeed bring new hope and truth into each day, and each life.

May you too know God’s love, fully and completely and may it bring you the sweetness of life and love.

Katy Krumbach is a pastor in the North Georgia Annual Conference getting her D.Min. in Spirituality and Leadership.

Dialoging Difference with Deference

By Leland Spencer

One of my favorite writings of John Wesley is his sermon on the catholic spirit. Catholic, in this sense, does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church. John Wesley’s catholic is spelled with a lower-case c, and means “universal.” In the sermon, Wesley addresses diversity of opinion in the life of the church. He concludes that persons of faith do not have to agree on everything in order to exist effectively in Christian community. He asks, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?

I love being a United Methodist for many reasons. Among them is the emphasis we place on open dialogue about important issues in our world. I contend that our faith should not only inform, but truly, shape, our politics. This is easier said than done. We need to resist the temptation to assume that we have the right answers all the time.

I was involved once in a discussion about peace and war. One person in the discussion quoted a theologian who wrote widely about pacifism. The facilitator asked the person how other persons of faith could read the same Bible and come to different conclusions about peace and war. To my horror, the person responded: “Well, a lot of people are wrong.”

My friends, difference of opinion does not mean one group is wrong and one group is right. Difference of opinion means that different people, through their reading the Bible, their understanding of the faith tradition, their personal experience with God, and their reasoning have come to different conclusions. While our denomination does publish social principles, our social principles are not church law; instead, they call all Christians to prayerful, studied dialogue of faith and practice.

One of my favorite metaphors for explaining this phenomenon is the road sign that indicates a deer crossing. The deer crossing sign alerts us as we drive to be aware that something unusual might be crossing the path soon. Is anyone really good at spotting deer near the side of the road? I never seem to notice them, but we really do need to be ready to respond if one is in the middle of the road. Perhaps we could learn from deer. Maybe the deer is not just some stupid animal in the middle of the road. Too often because the deer is something outside the ordinary, beyond the routine, we are impelled to be frustrated or wish it would go away. What if, instead of hitting it, or beeping at it, or swearing at it as it stares at our headlights, we just sat to watch it for a moment?

Could I learn from the deer a sense of boldness? Surely the deer is braver than I am; I wouldn’t stand in the middle of the road. Could I learn from the deer a sense of calmness? The deer is not in a hurry or a rush. Is it possible that the deer can teach me something, even though it is so different from me? Think about it. The deer and I do not speak the same language. We do not look alike at all. We probably have a different sense of what appropriate family values are. We don’t like the same foods. We are different in so many ways, yet here we are, on the road together—each crossing the other’s path—and maybe I can learn from the deer.

Friends, other people are the same way. Sometimes those who are the most different from us are the ones who can teach us the most. If we are honestly open to dialogue, to listen closely, to withhold judgment, to think about our faith and life, I do believe we can teach others and learn from others. If we set aside our insistence on total agreement in the nonessentials, we can go new places in our lives of faith and our relationship with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Because Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again, we can be united wholeheartedly in love and purpose with our sisters and brothers in Christ across ideological boundaries. Because of the creative power of God, the redeeming love of Christ, and the sanctifying activity of the Holy Spirit, we may love alike even when we cannot think alike.

From a Very Early Glimpse: All Meant All

By Peter L. DeGroote

1. The gospel stories of how Jesus called his first followers or disciples are very different, give us a way to think about how we go about acquiring followers of Jesus, and are remarkable for what they lack.  

2. First the differences:

A. Mark and Matthew describe Jesus approaching fisherman and instructing them to follow him. They give up their trade, their families, and go with him. They responded to authority. (Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:18-22.)

B. Luke describes Jesus’ growing reputation as a result of his style of teaching with authority and his healing powers. More importantly, where Peter and his business partners simply responded to Jesus’ authority in Mark and Matthew, in Luke they need special convincing. That is accomplished with the story of the miraculous catch of fish. For Luke people became followers of Jesus because of his impact on their lives. (Luke 5:1-11; also, see John 21:1-8 for a different use of that story.)

C. In John there is a sense of being invited, to come and see what Jesus' way of life is all about and you can decide for yourself. There are similarities to Luke, but in John we sense an invitation to explore God's ways with humanity and that the decision is ultimately ours to make. (John 1:35-42.)

3. What are the facts? Today we are often impatient with sorting out lessons from ancient stories, particularly when the facts differ. But there is a central fact in these stories: The early church’s explanation of how people first came to be followers of Jesus moved from a reliance on authority, to an emphasis of the impact of Jesus’ teachings on human life, to an invitation to come and explore life in the community.

A. Different traditions influenced the writing of the gospels. Those influences reflect the place of writing because traditions differed from region to region. 

B. In addition to place, the time of writing is important. The order of writing was Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. Over the latter part of the first Century the early church was challenged to refine its telling of Jesus’ story.   

C. The purpose for writing is also significant. The gospel writers were missionaries concerned with forming communities around Jesus’ teachings. Missionaries shape their stories to the cultures in which they tell them.

D. Those facts challenge us to think about the way we tell Jesus’ story and about the communities in which we claim to be his followers. 

4. As to what the stories lacked: We only have a glimpse of how Jesus went about forming those very early communities.

A. From that little glimpse we conclude that all meant all. Jesus didn’t baptize, didn’t teach doctrine, didn’t exclude, and taught a reconciling ethic. All who were willing to follow his teachings were followers or disciples.

B. As time went on different communities created differing requirements for membership that went beyond Jesus’ teachings.

5. To put it another way: There is a difference between what is necessary to be a follower or disciple of Jesus and the requirements for membership in most Christian denominations.    

The "Kisses" in the movie HARVEY MILK

By Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell

I am writing this on Valentine's Day, 2009. It is an appropriate time for me share one of my responses to the movie that I saw this week. As I sat in the darkness of the theater, I wished that I had thought to bring a notebook in which to write my many observations. I am sharing one observation that evoked memories of the once-held taboos against black persons kissing white persons on the screen. February, that has been designated Black History Month, is an ideal time for "Grandpa Gil" to remember many of the parallels between the Black experience and the experience of Gays. (In another blog I will write of a wonderful article that I have just read that addresses the areas of sensitivity that should be noted as we compare the struggles of Blacks and the struggles of Gays who are not Black).

It would have been an impossibility to film Harvey Milk without scenes depicting his personal and intimate relationships with other men. And of course, if the movie had not shown Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) kissing one with whom he shared love, the movie would have been inauthentic. Yet, there is a history and probably a current reality of some persons who react negatively first, to the idea and then secondly, to any depiction of interracial or same gender kissing.

The history of forbidding scenes of interracial kissing in movies is known by many of us. Many times that section of a movie was deleted when it was shown in certain sections of the USA. I contend that many of the inner forces that caused/cause some persons to experience a rise in blood pressure when they observe interracial kissing, are at work among some people when they observe same gender kissing.

I propose with appropriate tongue-in-cheek, this idea. Seminars that are designed to help persons identify and then be liberated from their racism and/or heterosexism (latent or overt), include depictions of interracial and same gender couples kissing, as a way of identifying and transforming our prejudices.

All of us might benefit from such a stress test.:-)

Grandpa Gil

Devotion: Our Unclean Spirits

Mark 1.21-24 : They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us” I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

As Jesus is teaching, a man with an unclean spirit comes up to him and asks why he’s there.  Jesus shushes the spirit and calls it out.  At the command of Christ, the spirit exercises its only option: obedience.

When Mark’s Gospel was written, demons were very much a part of the regular worldview.  While some of us may or may not believe in demons, they are still very much a part of the worldview of some areas of our Christian faith.  Furthermore, our Western society is fascinated with the supernatural and paranormal, and many non-western societies still think that demons play an active role in life; sometimes they are used to explain unknowable illness such as seizures and strokes.

This text’s primary function in the narrative is to show Jesus’ power and authority. I think that we can focus on the unclean spirit here, if we look at it not as a demon from the spiritual warfare perspective I was brought up with: angels and demons as the servants of two great beings – one greater than the other in the fullness of time – warring over us, possessing people and taking control of their bodies.  No, I think that if we look at unclean spirits from a different perspective we can safely examine our lives in terms of spirits, both clean and unclean.

I think we can ask ourselves from this text, What unclean spirits do we have in our lives? 
I do not wish to suggest that things in our lives are the product of demonic possession. 
As we approach Lent it might do us – certainly do me – well to start thinking now about
    that which separates us from God and our neighbor,
    that which dims the image of God in us,
    that which keeps holds us back from trailing the One who has called us to simply follow,
    as we consider things to give up and things to take on as Lenten disciplines. 

Is there animosity hidden in our hearts?  Do we have addictions – public or private – that hold us back?  Do we lack the fruits of the spirit?  Are there things that affect us that we can actively work at to try to change?  Jesus has the authority to fix those things which keep us in bondage…but that doesn’t, to me, mean only praying for Jesus to cast out the unclean spirits in our lives.  I believe that God has given us reason and science and people to help us sort things out, too.

Writing that last paragraph was hard, as I sought to craft the words in such a way that don’t tell us to hate who we have been created to be. 

I fear that someone will find this on the website and think, “I can do this!  I can pray my gay away and go to therapy and get better!”  I think that specifically because I’ve been there and I would’ve been the person hoping that’s what it said.  That’s not what I meant, and I hope you know that.  We are created in the image of the Most High God who loves us and wants us to love ourselves.  I hope you can hear me and understand me saying that there are things that keep us back, and God can help us – often through others.  She has brought into existence who nurture us from time to time.

As we wind down Epiphany season – going forth to show the manifestation of God in Christ making disciples – I hope we can look at the things in our lives that hold us back from walking in love as Christ loved us, and ask for God to help us get rid of our own unclean spirits.

Joseph Matthews, Reconciling in Alabama

Grandpa Gil's Blog

By Rev. Gilbert Caldwell

In October of this year, I will reach the age of 76. I have made the habit of identifying the age ahead of me as my age rather than the age I reached in the previous October. Thus, in February of 2029, I will be 96. There is excitement in living for the future, rather than living in the past. I share this non-essential information to declare that from this point on, I have named my RMN Blog, "Grandpa Gil's Blog". I have long been an admirer of the "primitive" paintings of Grandma Moses. Thus, I have no reservations about identifying my "primitive" writings as being written by Grandpa Gil.

When I have led Prayer or Discussion Groups composed of Seniors like myself, I have had us sing, "Jesus love me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Everyone to him belongs, they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The  Bible tells me so." (#191 UM Hymnal). We of course changed "little ones" to "everyone" to be age appropriate. I have discovered that to be chronologically a "Senior", there is no longer the need to be fearful of sounding simple or uttering words that some say are simplistic. You who are not Seniors cannot comprehend what you are missing.

"THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO": If little ones and senior citizens can sing with gusto and belief that the love of Jesus embraces them, why in the minds of some United Methodists must LGBT persons accept the idea that the love of  Jesus for them is a restricted love? They are told by the Church, "Of course Jesus loves you, but your sexual orientation and/or your sexual identity, is "incompatible" with the teachings and therefore the love of Jesus." This, even though persons who are LGBT did not self-determine their sexual orientation or their sexual identity!

"Grandpa Gil" wonders if people of faith ask themselves the question; "Which came first, my prejudice or the Bible?" Most persons now acknowledge that serious damage has been done to the power and significance of the Bible by those who once claimed that they supported the slavery of Africans, the segregation of African Americans and the denial of the ordination of women because "The Bible tells (told) me so." Some persons now acknowledge that many before them and they themselves, were taught to "use" the Bible to support their prejudices. And,they now regret their desecration of the all-encompassing love of Jesus and the power of "The Living Word".

Our task in 2009 is to continue to love and seek to liberate those who, "were taught by the time they were 7 or 8, the people to love, the people to hate."

Grandpa Gil
February 6, 2009
Black History Month