Tonight at 7 P.M. EST, Phillip Holmes will moderate a cyber-panel featuring Lecrae, James White, Voddie Baucham and B.J. Thompson regarding Ferguson. Panelists will talk about their initial response, the root of the pain surrounding the events, the mission of the church and much more. Tune in live tonight!
Panel
Lecrae Moore is a grammy winning rapper, producer and actor. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the independent record label Reach Records, and the co-founder and president of the non-profit organization ReachLife Ministries. Moore currently resides in Atlanta since relocating there from Houston in 2009. He is married to Darragh Moore and has three children. You can follow him on Twitter.
Voddie Baucham is a husband, father, pastor, author, professor, conference speaker and church planter. Voddie’s area of emphasis is Cultural Apologetics. Whether teaching on classical apologetic issues like the validity and historicity of the Bible, or the resurrection of Christ; or teaching on biblical manhood/womanhood, marriage and family, he helps ordinary people understand the significance of thinking and living biblically in every area of life. He is the author of Family Shepherd: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes. You can follow him on Twitter.
James White currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Christ Our King Community Church, Cary, NC and as Executive Vice President of Organizational Relations for the YMCA of the Triangle Area. James and his wife Cynthia served with Campus Crusade for Christ for 20 years. During their time with Campus Crusade they served on Campus of Howard University for 8 years. He is the contributing author for the book Planting Seeds of Hope, How to Reach African Youth, published by Moody Press and author of African American Devotional Bible published by Zondervan Press. You can follow him on Twitter.
BJ Thompson was born and raised in Dallas, Tx and came to know Jesus at 19. He and his beautiful wife Vanja have been married for a decade and have 3 children. For 3 years he served with recording artist Lecrae at Reachlife and completed a 3-year Pastoral Residency at Fellowship Memphis church, under Bryan Loritts. Over the past 10 years he has partnered with several churches and ministries to help develop marriages, form small groups, and train leaders globally. Currently BJ serves as the co-founder (2008) of Build a Better Us. He has a Bachelors degree in Sociology from the University of North Texas and a Masters in Christian Studies from Union University. You can follow him on Twitter.
Moderator
Phillip Holmes is the co-founder and Vice President of the Reformed African American Network (RAAN) and co-host of Pass The Mic, RAAN’s official podcast. He’s written for Urban Faith, Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, Christ and Pop Culture and Wade-O Radio on many topics, inlcuding race relations in America. He’s married to Jasmine. You can follow him on Twitter.
I really agree with what Pastor Voddie had to say. Amen!
I don’t understand why the discussion continues to focus on race! There is only one race, a depraved, sinful, human race! The black rioters in Ferguson have no excuse or justification for their sinful reaction to media-hyped events like Ferguson, the Travon case, the Brown case! What about black-on-black crime? No one but Pastor Voddie is addressing this!
Greetings to all,
For what it is worth, I recently retired after 23 years with a nationally accredited, highly respected State Police agency in the Southeast. My experiences as a trooper/sergeant with human beings, and they are many, long ago allowed to me see clearly & tangibly that the human heart is deceitful & desperately wicked as Jeremiah stated. It allowed me a front row seat to see clearly that the payment (sometimes delayed) for sin is physical/spiritual death, Romans 6:23. I cannot begin to describe the horrors that men entangle themselves in due to their sins and when brought to justice (Romans 13), for a very brief moment of time would often weep like a little child with a worldly sorrow that brought no repentance, 2 Corinthians 7:10. These tears quickly dissipated as we would drive into the jail for processing.
I am eternally grateful that I was saved by grace, through the work of Christ on the cross. It allows me to see Ferguson and its participants from a different perspective than a believer who doesn’t understand law enforcement other than what they see on “COPS.” If you look at Michael Brown & Darren Wilson from a biblical perspective they are/were on the same terrifying patch of ground, at enmity with a holy God. They both are under His perfect & righteous condemnation & they both desperately need/needed the Gospel and its saving effects. Rest assured, if Officer Wilson has not yet bowed his knee to the King, he will be dealt with perfectly one day for all of his works before a perfect and righteous Judge.
I would submit to all of you that one of the least reached people groups in the U.S is American law enforcement. I can testify that they are one of the most disliked & despised, even by some Christians. Countless times throughout my career I have been approached by fellow believers who had an interaction with a trooper, deputy, officer, etc. and almost always the Christians default position was the officer was wrong…doesn’t he have better things to do? Yet this same believer will fly to a remote nation and build things, teach, help, serve, love a people who openly welcome them & show’s no hostility, this is easy…Luke 6:32. The American law enforcement officer has a soul just like the person in Peru, why doesn’t the Church minister & seek to make disciples of them? Suicide rates, epidemic divorce, alcoholism, the list goes on and on, I would say that my brothers/sisters in blue need the Gospel as much as anyone!
I challenge each of you out of love to reach out, unashamed, to your local LE officers with the power of the Gospel, Romans 1:16. Or are they exempt from the same graces that have been extended to others? The Gospel is what changes young men’s heart’s/actions when confronted and it changes law enforcement officer’s hearts as well as they confront. I know this firsthand, for I have tasted His goodness.
Jude 1:24-25 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
I think we miss an opportunity here to get at the root causes with the true gospel if we let the mantra that black people are more prone to bad behavior base on the dynamic statistics. I would argue there would be no difference in behavior given a level field. We know this” prone to evil’ was the same attitude that kept Jim Crow in vogue when the statics couldn’t drive the argument. We know that is not a biblical argument and certainly not empathetic. Is it possible that “the good that the good news produces” is not so evident in some communities because the most prominent examples of those and their children don’t live it out in front of them there in their neighbor hoods, churches and schools? if true, how can one not expect to have resentment and even bitterness set in with those who feel left out. I would think the gospel might be less hopeful to me if it is always brought in by someone who won’t stay and live with me.
Great conversation! As always, Christians must approach this issue with a focus on truth and love. There’s a significant opportunity or duty to offer compassion and sympathy here and work towards a greater justice. In the same breath, there’s an opportunity or duty to speak to unpleasant truths about cultural ills and personal responsibility. We can’t withhold the truth or the love.
Great job, Phillip. Why didn’t everyone else get to use the big, shiny, silver mic? lol.
Encouraged to be about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who do not have hope and without God. A living hope, a good hope, a better hope and the blessed hope. Jesus
(Yay! Voodie & LeCrae!) This has been a hard issue with my co-workers. I’m so out numbered & just keep my opinions to myself but, I also LOVE Apologetics too! (& I’m a mother too.) You guys are a great Reference for me to throw out. Thank you,
Thanks so much for all of y’all taking the time to do this. Really really appreciated it.
Which James White? A different James White than the AOMin.org James White
Yes it is a different James White.