A GREAT VIDEO ON FERGUSON

I know who Michelle Higgins is. She has led worship many a time in different places I've been. She is an amazing worship leader and a strong follower of Christ. This video is solid Christians having an excellent discussion about race relations and the current state of Furguson, MO. Even if you can't watch it all, the first 10 min are fabulous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXtvpxQp4rM

THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A SHOOTING AND WHO WAS WRONG

A Facebook Friend wrote this: I think it is clear that this is not about one incident. The anger and the protesting that we are seeing is the culmination of so many cases of racial profiling - when we can step back and see that this has become the soapbox for so many hurts, then we can begin to make progress. I agree. Also yesterday I got my CNN text that said police shoot another dead in Ferguson. My heart was like OH NO! And the silly media just wants to tease you in with stuff that is not quite accurate. They don't seem to really care, they just want you to improve their ratings. after all they are a business too. And when I looked, it was a guy who was coming at them with a knife and they repeatedly asked him to put it down. So they were right in protecting. But then at the same time, why aren't they shooting these guys in the knee or something instead of killing them? My friend who I really trust who is hanging out a lot up there says the police really are being bullies. It really is shocking to me how many people seem to just be waiting for information to come out so that they can breath a sigh of relief and say that none of this was a race issue. I think it is clear that this is not about one incident. The anger and the protesting that we are seeing is the culmination of so many cases of racial profiling - when we can step back and see that this has become the soapbox for so many hurts, then we can begin to make progress.

BLACK PEOPLE REALLY NEED US WHITE PEOPLE TO SEE

So this is really on my heart. And I want to say it well. I don't want to make people feel defensive and stop reading, although you sure can't please everyone! The segregated and racist mess that St Louis has been for a long time is being shown all over the nation right now. I have always been one to want to hang out with black people, and I remember when I moved to STL, many white people saying, "How does it feel to be free of the racist south?" And me thinking - Um I'm not sure you're looking around. This may be worse here. But its not so easy to see and so my post is intended to help w seeing. I can understand, to the degree that I can understand, why black people are really angry. Its so easy to not see. I've worked where I've been the only white worker and all my co-workers black; I've worked to serve patients in mostly black neighborhoods - some of the neighborhoods that are on the news; I've made black friends; I'm raising black foster children. And its even still easy for me to not see if I don't want to. But the thing I want people to see is how isolated black people feel from white actions and privilege. And I also want people to see how its way not so simple as just make better choices, when practically everything around black peoples' communities is working against our white people's judgement of what a good choice is. So the movie "Amistad" shows how black people were brought here in the first place against their will. And then the movie, "12 Years a Slave" shows very well how black people were treated as slaves. And the movie "Mississippi Burning" or "To Kill A Mockingbird" shows how they were treated after they were free. And the movie "Crash" shows really well the treatment today which is called white privilege. And just being pushed aside and pushed aside by the race that has more power, along with the social problems that make it extra hard to cope with that bitterness, makes the bitterness and anger mount. And I am not saying that bitterness and anger expressed this way are right - I wholeheartedly agree that they are sins. But its not so easy to never sin is it? We all struggle - that's why we need Jesus. But its a hard place to be these angry black people in our city right now. And its a hard place to be anyone who is involved and wondering how do we bring about change for the better. Would you please see this need and pray with me about it?

WHERE YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT PEACEFUL PROTESTS

This is where you can get updates of where there are peaceful protests of the racism of our city. http://www.prayingwithourfeet.org/ WordPress › Installation www.prayingwithourfeet.org Welcome to the famous five minute WordPress installation process! You may want to browse the ReadMe documentation at your leisure. Otherwise, just fill in the information below and you’ll be on your way to using the most extendable and powerful personal publishing platform in the world.

FERGUSON

This article was very interesting to me. Here's a quote that stood out, "St. Louis County alone, African-American poor are six times as likely as white poor to live in areas of concentrated poverty." The main thing I want my white friends to see is not so much who is right and who is wrong, but that there is still major segregation and racial discrimination that was NOT all fixed with the Civil Rights movement, and we do NOT all live in peace together now. We have gotten stuck since the civil rights movement and maybe we are about to have another one, Dave and I wonder. The Ferguson police couldn't handle it, the St Louis County police couldn't handle it, the MO Highway Patrol couldn't handle it, and now the National Guard is coming in. In the map in this article is the place I served home health for 5 years. I can drive through those streets and stop at those fast food restaurants for a restroom break and think about many of the dear dear families I served through home heath, where we would do the best we could having conversations about race relations. There are no easy answers - this stuff is SO complex - but let me tell you, white friends, it means so much to some one who is black to hear you talk and acknowledge that there are deep problems and that you care about these problems and that you care about black people too. Why did the Michael Brown shooting happen here? : News www.stltoday.com A cluster of apartments on Ferguson's far corner is a hotbed for crime and poverty.

Blogging about Ferguson and how the church, especially the white church, can be a part

I'm switching from social media to here. Just put these signs on either side of the car and am going to ride through Ferguson to my next appointment. Not taking the kids there because they are very scared of what they have heard so far and don't really understand. So we are talking about how horrible racism is in other ways than the present situation in Ferguson.

MY UNBELIEF

What I most want to communicate in this blog post is the reality that we all struggle with unbelief. The sermon this morning was about unbelief, and I realized that reality so clearly just yesterday with our garage sale. I have been praying for weeks for this sale to be successful, and I have been very anxious that it would not go well and we would have to break our backs hauling away all the stuff. I catastrophized it really, because that's not that big of a deal anyway in the bigger scheme of things. But anyway, it went better than I could have dreamed. Not only did we get rid of the stuff and only have to haul 1 load away, but we finished by 1 and we met some new friends along the way! God really blessed us. But the thing is, whether it went well in my eyes or not, God always blesses me. He knows what is best way more than me. Its kind of like how my African American friends always answer "Blessed and Highly Favored" when asked how they are, no matter the circumstances. I unbelieve very often. I am glad that Jesus died for my unbelief.