|
Call 888-293-9282, Sunday nights, 9pm-11pm Eastern on WAVA 105.1 FM and 1230 AM in the DC Metro area; XM 170 and your local Salem Radio Station across the US.
Building a Bridge to the Best of You
August 13, 2006
How can your friends, employer, family members, spouse, kids, God, get the best of you? What is the best you? Is there something that is hindering you from being your best?
Answer this question: I'm at my best when?
Practical Best Practices:
1. When I'm rested. (physical)
2. When I'm right with God. (spiritual)
- washed clean
- reverent of God and surrendered to Him
3. When I'm right with others and relating well. (relational)
4. When I'm re-creating. (emotional)
5. When I'm receiving (intellectual)
-receiving stimulation, input
Four Tips to Being your Best:
1. Get around others who "BELIEVE" in you, but first you need to believe in you.
2. Get in a place where you can "EXPRESS" yourself and your gifts. (paid or unpaid)
- your talents, your gifts, your love language, etc.
3. Get in a place where you can "SERVE" and allow yourself to BE SERVED
-could be different than expressing yourgifts. This may be serving someone a cup of coffee. This helps you get beyond yourself.
4. Get in a place where you can receive TRAINING
-learning and teaching stimulates us and grows us
Listen Live or ANYTIME You Want!
Thanks to the brilliant minds who continue to bring us modern technology, you can now hear recordings of past "Reconciliation Live" shows online, anytime you want! It's very easy. Simply visit the online audio archive (or click the Archive link on the right side of this page). There are only a few shows up at the moment, but more are coming!
Got a comment or question about this program? Click on the Web Forum link on the right of this page and post your thoughts there.
Practical Application: D.O. S.O.M.E.T.H.I.N.G.
On Oct. 30th's show, Dr. Anderson shared his
"D.O. S.O.M.E.T.H.I.N.G." list for moving towards racial reconciliation. Here are some things we can do to become racial reconcilers.
D - Donate your service to another group of people.
Donating your time and effort to serving others will not only fulfill you personally but it demonstrates the love of Jesus practically. Whether you are serving the poor, the aged, the widow, orphan, or imprisoned, regardless of color or culture, you will be extending the compassion of Christ in tangible form. Is there a mission, a shelter, a clothing consignment store or a church ministry within an hour’s drive where you can volunteer once per month or more? Grab a friend and go for it!
O - Open your heart. Ask God to help you get a clear handle about your attitude toward any race of people who you may have a “problem” with, or prejudices toward. Prayerfully repent and ask God to root this out of your heart.
Reconciliation begins in the heart, so that is where we must start. Ask God to open your heart to the issues of reconciliation and accept the call to be an ambassador of reconciliation from this point forward, even if you don’t fully understand what all of it entails.
S - Start building bridges.
Think of 3 or 4 environments where you can intentionally place yourself to build relationships with people from different racial backgrounds. For example, think about where you live, go to church, shop, buy gas, workout, go to the library, or socialize.
Befriend others who are different than you as the Lord provides opportunities for you. Be on the look out for the open doors that God is providing, and walk through them by faith.
Church leaders can extend invitations to church leaders from other racial backgrounds for ministry opportunities that range from social fellowship between congregants to pulpit swapping and other joint ventures.
O - Offer your resources.
What ministries do you support? Are they all white, all black, all Latino, or all Asian, or some other unicultural group?
What vendors, manufacturers, and legal services do you contract with? What authors and books do you read? Look at your shelves of books and identify the color and culture of 90% of the authors. What businesses do you support? What missionary efforts do you give to? What banks hold your resources?
More often than not, people tend to support unicultural efforts without thinking about the fact that organizations they support are not diverse. The leadership, mission, vision, and direction of the agencies, ministries, or companies you are supporting may be racially segregated with no heart or intention to change. Why not consider using your resources to support reconciliation instead of help organizations that perpetuate segregation?
M - Memorize the truth.
Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:17). God’s word in the hearts of God’s people equips us with God’s power and authority. Commit to memory the following six scripture passages and meditate on what they mean.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Matthew 28:19-20
Ephesians 2:14
John 17:23
Galatians 3:28
Acts 17:26
E - Educate yourself.
I truly believe that reading books on the subject of race relations and multicultural ministry is critical for the process of learning and listening. By reading this book, you have already moved in the right direction. I’ve also attached a book list to help you begin the journey.
Consider taking a college course in cultural diversity, race relations, African American history, or other sociological areas that may expand your learning. I also suggest that you get the syllabus and suggested reading from these classes whether or not you take the course. The references will be valuable to your library.
T - Teach and Train.
If you are pastor or church leader, begin to think through the core values and mission of your ministry to evaluate its consistency with the ministry of reconciliation. Begin to teach those who are following you about the biblical perspective on race.
For preacher and teachers, this book has many bible references, outlines, and stories that will give you more than enough material to build upon. I don’t doubt that you are gifted beyond what is in this book to preach and teach as God grants you special favor. Put the subject of race, reconciliation, and matters of justice on your preaching and/or teaching schedule to open the eyes and ears of God’s people with “Thus saith the Lord”.
For lay people and everyday Christ-followers, train your children and friends with confrontation when you hear or see racism or prejudice displayed. Use these incidents as teachable moments to help redirect people toward God’s will for racial unity, equality, and inclusion.
H - Hire toward the vision.
If you are a church leader with authority to hire, why not give extra consideration to someone of who reflects the population you desire to reach. This makes sense strategically. In my doctoral dissertation, the research showed that multicultural churches had multicultural staffing while unicultural churches did not. In other words, those who led multicultural churches intentionally staffed their leadership team to reflect the diversity they already had or desired to have in their congregation.
To find qualified candidates, one must network within the sphere of those people groups. Research and attending multicultural conferences and events will place you in the networks necessary to identify candidates.
I - Invite and involve those on the fringes. The power of a personal invitation is incredible. In a church, people will come to an event they might not otherwise attend if someone simply puts an arm around them to extend a warm invitation.
N - Network around the topic of reconciliation.
If you’re a pastor, why not pass this book on to another pastor as a gift and schedule a time to discuss a couple of thoughts regarding the book? Or give the gift of another book on the subject of race to a church leader and ask for their opinion of the book once they’ve completed reading it?
If you are looking for a church, this is the time to heighten the value of racial reconciliation and multicultural ministry as you search. If you can’t find a multicultural church, find one that has the potential and desire to move in this direction. Interviewing the pastor or designated church leaders will give you a feel for their heart in this regard. God may be bringing you to that church as an answer to someone’s prayers.
Whatever field you’re in, whether secular or Christian, find the department or the interested parties regarding the topic of race and begin to network in this arena. Most colleges have minority affairs offices and most companies have human resource components that offer programs and training around the topic. Why not attend a multicultural event that is offered by the college or company?
When diverse groups come together to own a vision and project, the collaborative efforts have a greater chance of success and relational bonding. Building something together often creates camaraderie and teamwork. When two people, two churches or groups work together to solve a common problem or build a common project, the potential to break down racial walls is huge.
I chose to join a local board in my community. As the years of service passed the comfort level of having a preacher other board members increased as people became familiar with me. Whatever preconceived notion some may have had about “preachers” was reformed because they recognized that I was normal (sort of) like them. &&What effort in your community can you join that will stretch you in the areas of reconciliation for the purpose of networking and multicultural evangelism?
G - Get help from others.
Consultants on the topic of reconciliation and multicultural ministry can share their expertise and experience in assisting your organization in thinking through strategic steps that will help you craft a multiculturally effective ministry for today and the future.
Aside from my organization, the BridgeLeader Network, I know that noted author George Yancy’s also consults around these matters. You can find George at www.racialreconciliation.com.
Choose one seminar, workshop, or class to attend this year that promotes reconciliation and diversity to gain more knowledge and understanding. Feel free to check my website at www.BridgeLeader.com to see what conferences/events I will be speaking at or hosting, or link to other ministries from my site for something that may be closer to you.
NEW: Keep the conversation going America!
As you know, Dr. Anderson and Co-Host Tracey love taking your calls every Sunday on matters that matter. Now, they want to hear from you all week long! The Reconciliation Live Web Forum is now up and running and we are eager to hear from you. Just click on http://forums.reconciliationlive.com to keep the conversation going. Discuss Sunday's show or a previous show. Got an opinion on the Racial or Religious divide? Then, speak up. Got a question? Then ask!
Eager to learn what's new with 'Rec. Live'?
Sign up for "Reconciliation Live E-News" to receive weekly email updates on show topics, guests and events around the country. Just email Margarita at margarita.cabellon@bridgeleader.com to be added to the list.
Ten Action Steps from our Listeners to practically deal with the racial divide
1. Use the bible as your foundation
2. Love enough to accept differences in cultures as they are, instead of trying to mold everyone to be like you.
3. Celebrate the progress we have made.
4. Don't judge people's worship styles, but focus on God instead.
5. Seek the Spirit of God in other people and abandon human wisdom.
6. Have a "No tolerance" policy on racism in the church.
7. Agree that Christ came for all of us, but agreement must eventuate into covenant for change to come.
8. Take the discussion to the next level, in communities, face-to-face.
9. Develop a relationship with a person of another culture.
10. When you see the racial divide in action, confront it. Don't pretend you don't notice it.
***********************************************************
Imagine a "call in" talk show where people can ask really tough questions and discuss the dicey topic of race relations in a safe and honest environment.
Dr. David Anderson, an experienced practitioner and co-author of the book, "Letters Across the Divide" and his diverse guests will discuss topics that range from interracial dating & marriage, multicultural ministry, the politics of race, gender, war and other issues where bridges of reconciliation need to be built. Join in Live!
|
|