Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Involvement

William Wilberforce was one man who had a profound influence upon Great Britain and the world. Today I watched the last session of the Truth Project (Community & Involvement) in preparation for next week's meeting. In it, Dr. Tackett talked about William Wilberforce and his mission to end slavery in Great Britain.

Immediately after I finished watching the video, I walked over to my office shelf and picked up How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin Schmidt. Hmm, I thought when I noticed a bookmark still in the pages. I never finished reading the book after I was done with the required chapters (a byproduct of late nights at FFI). So I flipped it open to the marked page. Lo and behold, there before me was a description of William Wilberforce. It talked about his marked efforts in the Parliament over 20-some years to bring about the abolition of the slave trade and freedom of slaves. It was an effort he devoted his entire life toward. Literally a few days before his death, he finally received word that Parliament had passed the Abolition Act, freeing some 700,000 slaves in the English colonies.


As the book describes it: "No proponent for the abolition of slavery ever accomplished more." He heard the sound of the slave chains more clearly than perhaps anyone else around him. And according to his love for and fear of God, he was compelled to do something about it. He could not stand idly by.

"If you want to follow Him [God], then you must be involved in the battle." Dr. Del Tackett

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Zzyzx Scarecrow

Near the gateway to Mojave
I saw a place
Both beautiful and blistering
And cruel and cold the same
The sun was like a lion
Bearing down upon its prey
Death Valley stained in crimson
For the moon to wash away
And I envisioned rows of gallows
For the world to look upon
One step to bringing order
To a planet tempting chaos

Can you feel it coming down?
The righteous wrath of God
Revealed from out of heaven
For the innocent blood
Crying from the ground

While the wicked seem to prosper
And glory in these days
As if their ways were hidden
As if they had escaped
We have lost our sense of justice
Smearing lines of right and wrong
Despising any standards
We blindly stumble on
Bleeding hearts may scream compassion
What of those that cannot cry?
A life is worth a life
Justice... merciful and blind

Innocent blood
Is crying from the ground

It's coming down

-Zzyzx Scarecrow by Stavesacre

While I normally avoid putting song lyrics in a blog because it's not the most creative thing to do, tonight these words are appropriate to think about.

I am sorry, little ones. You are not forgotten. You are not forgotten.