The Heart of the Father. . . for the African American Culture.

So, Monday night the boys and I went to what I mistakenly called, a "show." Not because it wasn't a show, but simply because the boys thought that meant movie. Oh well, another day I will expound on my boys love for movies and my utter distaste for that love.

The African American Forerunner Alliance is a wing of IHOP that is committed to bringing the African American community into intercession, before the Lord, and uniting with other ministries around the nation focused on the same thing.  "The African American Forerunner Alliance (AAFA) exists to serve and strengthen all who have a desire to see black believers walk in fullness." It is amazing, and having spent a year teaching and living with an African American poverty populations, my heart is connected to such things.  Knowing that soon, we will be having a child in our family whose skin is a different color than mine, pushes my heart to want to understand the plight of those in our country who have been enslaved and abused for generations.   see video. . .


One of their groups, the Heart of David, did a play this week that showed the history of blacks in America, and called them forward- that they would know Jesus fully and live for Him in the days to come.  It is a play written for and acted by African American men and women- and though we were slightly out of place, I couldn't help but think about the days to come- when one or more of my own children will struggle with serious questions of race and identity.  We live in a fallen world.  Jesus has not yet returned.  People will look at me and my family funny.  Sure, some people will tell me how wonderful it is that we are multi-cultural.  However, I know on the front end that it will not always be pretty.  Others will stare, and even others will scoff at me.  I know my daughter will ask, "Mommy, why is my skin a different color than yours?"  I want to answer that question fully and honestly.  I want to know the history of people in this nation who share a common genetic link with my adopted children.

The play looked at the role of significant Black Americans- specifically Martin Luther King- throughout history.    The impact they made, not on policy and politics, but on the heart and soul of African Americans around the nation. 

I leave you with the same question posed in the play.  Who do you put your hope in?  Who is my hope in?  There is one man, one person, ONE who can make all things right.  There is one alone who can vindicate the wrongs in our life, one who can heal the wounds, bring freedom, and guarantee equality.  The One who created us equal, the one who formed us in our mothers' wombs, and the one who sees us completely (good and bad!).  He is our hope.  He is our eternity, and He is the one who will fight for us. 

1 Peter 1:3-6   "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you,  who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." (bold mine)