September 2015 Monthly Letter

Dear Reconciler Family,

I hope you’re enjoying your summer. My wife Jannice and I are enjoying it here in Banning, California despite the 90 to 100+ temperatures. We live near Palm Springs, which yields an average of 100 to 115 degrees. So stay cool my friends!

I want to thank you for your loyal and consistent support of the Ministry of Reconciliation. It’s so inspiring to have such loyal backers in such a critical ministry.

One such backer is Mrs. Kathleen Hart, a Chaplain to ministers’ wives, and a good friend. She wrote:

My Dearest Curtis,

“When I read your letter dated July, I was touched by what you shared regarding some of the details of the terrible tragic incident that took place. The forgiveness of God’s children in that church (Mother Emanuel) is amazing and an eye-opener and challenge. The scriptures you quoted revealed God’s love and actions to reveal reconciliation. Your words shared, Curtis, certainly come from the Lord and spoken into our hearts as His Temple.”

Oprah Winfrey said this about forgiveness to her viewers:

“I always love Aha! Moments. When somebody says something that made us look at life in a completely new way. When I first heard that, I literally got goose bumps. The message that came through so clearly and stayed with me is this: ‘Forgive, so you can truly live.’ Forgiveness is letting go, so the past does not hold you prisoner, does not hold you hostage.” She went on to say, “Forgiveness doesn’t mean you condone the behavior, or in any way make a wrong into a right. It simply means that you give yourself permission to release from your past.”

Kathleen and Oprah’s comments fit right in with why it was so important that they responded the way they did. What an example for all of us!

I love these statements. And I teach these principles in my Reconciliation Seminars and Workshops. After discussing the “isms” that we often carry around, usually a White person will come onto the stage and talk openly about some of the racism that he or she may have seen in the local community, often followed by an apology on behalf of those who look like him or her. Then I apologize on behalf of those who look like me. It has often opened the way for others to talk openly and share the spirit of true reconciliation. Those in the audience begin to share thoughts and experiences across racial lines that they have never shared before. They then are better equipped to go out and without fear share the gospel of reconciliation!

The main thing that we all can cling onto is that we are working for Jesus Christ, the True Reconciler who has reconciled us to the Father, the Holy Spirit and to Himself. They live in perfect harmony all the time and that is their goal for all of mankind. Thank you all for your kind support and your loyalty to the Ministry that is really making a difference on their behalf!

Thank you for standing in the gap for Jesus!

Blessings,