April Subscriber Letter
Dear Reconciler Family,
As we have been focusing on the Lent and Easter season which commemorates the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, certain words like love, forgiveness, and peace come to mind. All this has to do with reconciliation.
Here’s an excerpt from a devotional at Fuller Theological Seminary by Dr. Terry Hargrave, Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy:
“The gospel of reconciliation is always a two-edged sword. It cuts through the fears and isolation that sin brings to reunite us with the living God. But that reunification puts us face to face with the mission of reconciliation. Will our wounds, pain, and relationship with Jesus result in us passing on love, justice, and forgiveness to others or will we retain it for ourselves? In this season of Lent, let us reconcile ourselves with peace to the work of reconciliation. Let us not only embrace the peace of forgiveness and resurrection for ourselves, but be willing to pass it to others who are locked behind the doors of fear and sin.”
I would also like to draw your attention to a real life example of the mission and act of reconciliation. Ruth Manuel-Logan of NBC News reported on an apology made to Congressman John Lewis for wrongs done fifty years ago:
“Police Chief Kevin Murphy’s apology was made at the historic First Baptist Church on Saturday not only to the famed Freedom Riders but also, personally, to U.S. Representative of Georgia, John Lewis, who was a member of the historical civil rights crusaders. Lewis was in town as part for the 13th Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama.
Traveling south to Montgomery, Lewis was struck on the head with a wooden crate, which resulted in a skull fracture, and severely beaten along with the 12 other Riders by angry southern mobs. The Riders were then arrested and thrown in jail.
Now, some 50 years after the horrific events that the Riders had to endure in order to secure civil rights for Blacks, Murphy apologized to Lewis, offering his badge. The law enforcer admitted the police department in Montgomery at the time had cosigned on laws that were morally unjust while the Riders protested in Montgomery.”
You are making an impact that is just as effective. Thank you for it and thank you for your kind financial support; it is so essential.
In Jesus,
Curtis