Category Archives: General News

06.11.25
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Addressing Injustice: A Gospel Approach to a God-sized Issue

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

What is injustice?

While injustices can take on many forms—whether the mistreatment of others, discrimination, economic or political injustice, law enforcement overreach, unjust actions carried out against you or someone else, structural or systemic injustice, or simply not doing what is right towards others—we all know injustice when we see it. When we see it, we have an inherent urge to respond to confront injustice—not only because we are Christ’s Ambassadors, but also because God is a God of JUSTICE and the Moral Law Giver who has implanted within each of us to know what is right and what is wrong. God has called us to do justice, to seek justice and to correct oppression.

Given the myriad ways in which injustices manifest and impact people, our communities, our nation and world, the issue is God-sized and therefore requires a gospel-rooted response. It is a God-sized issue because the issues originate as sin in the heart of mankind. Only God can deal with the heart appropriately. Without first applying the gospel-rooted response to the injustice, we will short change true deliverance and restoration. With the physical injustices made visible, we must first realize that the physical is derived from that which is invisible and spiritual. You may already know this. If we want to fix the visible injustices, we must first engage the issue(s) from the spiritual perspective.

Through prayer and fasting and putting on our spiritual armor DAILY (Ephesians 6:10-18), Isaiah 61 offers us a hopeful “forecast” of the restoration that can occur for the oppressed when we engage injustice through a spiritual approach first:

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame
    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.

God has created the biblical standard for what is true justice and how we can bring it about for those who are oppressed. In following His approach, we will truly loose the chains of injustice and bring renewal and restoration to the oppressed.

03.28.25
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Hope Deferred, Not Depleted

Publisher’s Note: We are delighted to introduce you to Alviana Johnson, our newest guest “Voices” blogger for Voices Against the Grain! Alviana joins us from Oakland, California and desires to encourage our younger generation in overcoming their struggles. You may read her bio here. Welcome, Alviana, and thank you for desiring to be an instrument for sharing the gospel in today’s culture.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12, New King James Version)

Alviana Johnson

Deferred: postponed or delayed

An example of “deferred” would be a baseball game postponed due to rain. I’ve seen where the game would be delayed without an actual timeframe of when it would start again. Most fans would leave. But then three hours after it had been delayed, the game would resume.

As a fan, I could:

  • stay during the duration of the delay
  • leave unsure of when the game would resume, come back later
  • leave frustrated and not return

Looking at this through the lens of our relationship with God, there are times when we are hoping for something and He’s the One we’re trusting in to make it happen.

While we’re waiting, either we will:

  • faithfully hope in the Lord
  • stray and repent
  • turn our back on God and do life without Him

The Word teaches us in Proverbs 10:24 that “the desire of the righteous will be granted.” As I mentioned before, our hope was deferred not depleted.

Depleted: diminish or empty

That means for you, child of God, there is still a reason for us to hope in the result we expect. The timeframe may have been pushed back, but the prize is still on the way.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

When the thing we were hoping for God to fulfill doesn’t happen in the timeframe we thought it would, it causes us to feel sorrowful. No matter how much we cry out to God; asking, seeking, knocking; there’s that feeling of sorrow that we didn’t receive what we wanted. And sometimes Satan will take that opportunity to cast seeds of doubt in our minds about God or His goodness or His faithfulness.

But God hasn’t deserted His child. He hasn’t given up on keeping His promise.

Our faith is being tested. But even if we fail the test of faith, God will remain faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)

The second part of Proverbs 13 starts by saying, “WHEN the desire comes”; also in Proverbs 10:24(b) it states “the desire of the righteous WILL be granted.”

We can continue to have hope in the Lord because we know His character: He does not lie (Numbers 23:19). We know His track record: He is faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23). We know the testimony of others: I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread (Psalm 37:25).

A (promise) we receive from the Lord Jesus is found in John 15:7: If we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can ask for what we desire and it SHALL be done for us.

With the knowledge of God and the truth of His Word, we can continue to hope in Him and believe that He is for us and not against us.

Rebuke Satan. Hope in the Lord. Declare biblical truths truth over your life.

Blessings,

Alviana

11.25.24
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The Leadership Style We Need and Should Never Negotiate

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

When the righteous increase (when the righteous are in authority), the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Proverbs 29:2, English Standard Version)

“If a clown goes into the palace, the clown does not become a king; the palace becomes a circus.” – An iteration of a Turkish Proverb

The Lord knows my heart for servant leadership. It was one of the key motivators as to why I serve whether at work, in church or in my community. Servant leadership is leadership that acts from the principles and practices of Jesus, as a servant. In the book, Servant Leadership: Proverbs for Today’s Leaders (2017) gifted to me several years ago written by Dr. Dave Stevens and Pastor Bert Jones of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations where I serve as Director of State Public Policy, they inform that the term “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader essay published in 1970. The Greenleaf Institute states that “Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.” Dr. Stevens and Pastor Jones agree with the definition and also refer the reader to Mark 9:35 for a better way to define servant leadership. In Mark 9:35, Jesus summed up servant leadership by saying to the 12 disciples, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (New International Version) Servant leadership puts others before self. Servant leadership does not focus on accumulating wealth, power and prestige. Servant leadership is not focused on building an empire. Rather, servant leadership leads people to become who God has called them to be by helping them reach their full potential. It is influential leadership that sacrifices, that models such servant leadership for the good of others and the mission and reproduces other servant leaders who will influence many others. “Servant leaders use their power legitimately and always for the good of the people they serve,” Dr. Stevens and Pastor Jones write as one of the proverbs for servant leaders in Chapter 5 of their book. They also write, “Though organizational success is not the primary goal of a servant leader, it is its byproduct because you get the best effort and results out of those you lead.”

History has shown us the devastating effects of power held by and deployed from corrupt hands. In his book, The Irony of American History (The University of Chicago Press, 1952), one of my favorite books, American author, theologian, ethicist and political commentator Reinhold Niebuhr referenced a stern warning from John Adams given to Thomas Jefferson on the powers of human self-deception being seemingly endless–particularly in understanding the depravity of the human heart (See Jeremiah 17:9 on the wickedness/deceitfulness of the human heart and its propensity to sin). Adams wrote Jefferson saying, “Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all of His laws. Our passions, ambitions, avarice (greed), love and resentment, etc., possess so much metaphysical subtlety and so much overpowering eloquence that they insinuate themselves into the understanding and the conscience and convert both to their party.” Adams understood the power and deception of the self’s passions which if rooted in self, would lead to corrupt reasoning to justify acting on those passions and ambitions.

During my Master of Public Administration (MPA) studies completed through Regent University in Virginia Beach, servant leadership was a core principle that was threaded throughout my course reading and discussions. Not only servant leadership, but also the character traits of servant followers. From the book, Christian Scripture and Human Resource Management written by one of my Regent University Robertson School of Government professors, Gary E. Roberts, Ph.D., shares on page 104 Principle 25: Practice Unswerving Honesty, is one of several core character traits. It says, “Servant followers are uncompromisingly conscientious and honest, passionately embrace truth telling–even when the risks are high. Humility is also a foundational servant follower virtue.” This is also true of servant leaders as others are following their lead.

When the righteous increase (when the righteous are in authority), the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Proverbs 29:2, English Standard Version)

Servant leaders also exhibit and exercise excellence of character and competency. Servant leaders build reservoirs of credibility that translate into favor and higher levels of influence at all levels. Servant leader credibility increases trust and favor. When our work is excellent, we will serve important causes and receive the favor of the king (Proverbs 22:29). Servant leaders also are willing to “fall on their sword,” having a contrite heart to be accountable for their mistakes. A dear brother in Christ and founder of several organizations, Hakim Hazim, provided these simple and yet fundamental criteria for serious leadership which he calls “The 4 C’s of Leadership” and those 4 C’s are: Character, Competency, Credibility and Critical Thinking. Although he shared these four core leadership traits with me and others many years ago, what he provided has always stuck with me and serve as a measurement for a leader to at least possess and exercise well these four core traits.

But you can’t make someone into something they aren’t if they are unwilling. As referenced in the opening reference to the iteration of a Turkish Proverb, “If a clown goes into the palace, the clown does not become a king; the palace becomes a circus,” chaos rather than character will be prevalent. Unfit leadership is worse than a meal eaten that sends you running to the toilet. At least you will likely recover within a few hours or a day from the sour meal. However, the effects of unfit and faulty leadership are not so quickly recoverable and have widespread impact on many–usually impacting the most vulnerable who already suffer various hardships. Sometimes the harmful effects of unfit leadership are not fully known until long after.

I say all of this to say: For those of us who follow Christ (and even those who do not), but particularly for those who follow Christ, we should not want anything less in a leader. We should not trade or negotiate these necessary qualities for something less in hopes of getting something better. If anything, we will have ordered something worse and the ramifications will be far-reaching.

God calls us to test the appearances of leaders to discern whether they are fit and virtuous leaders by examining the fruit produced by their actions (Matthew 7:15-20). That by their fruit we would be able to recognize if they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Not only should we test the appearance of leaders, we should also check ourselves “to examine our motives, means and ends given the powerful influence of rationalization and self-deception (1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:21),” as Dr. Roberts references on page 66 of his book, Christian Scripture and Human Resource Management.

Pray for wise leaders who continually seek God and may we be those wise leaders and followers who seek God as well.

07.01.24
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A Cascade of Contradictions

“The Gospel is not about winning through power.” -John Dickson, author, speaker and public advocate for the Christian faith

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

I recently learned of Mr. John Dickson while watching the Holy Post Podcast Episode #623 “Posting the 10 Commandments & America’s Secular Future” on YouTube. Part of the discussion was on Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signing a mandate on June 19, 2024 requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all Louisiana public classrooms. This should thrill every Christian, right? Especially in an immoral society that needs to be “reined in.” Laws that will put the culture and people back in morality, right? (Especially as the church has in many ways abdicated from its role of being the church and now we’re trying to make up for it) That would seem to be the thinking here. And yet, I know God said in Ezekiel 36:26, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (ESV) This passage signifies a desire from God to have intimate relationship with us–beyond simply establishing rules that tell us what to do and not to do. But to have His Word written on our heart signifies something much deeper and not something done by a state mandate.

We can’t be bullies and saints at the same time. While we desire to see more godliness in our world, it will not come about through attempting to legislate morality or by being a political baseball bat. I work in public policy so I know. If we as so-called Christians want to truly see hearts, minds, and communities transformed in the Lord, it will not be done by power or might but by HIS SPIRIT (Zechariah 4:6). Not by force. Do we not believe that the Word of God is indeed powerful to break down strongholds? To bring hearts and minds into the obedience of Christ? This is not a work done by man’s heavy-handedness but a gentle work of the Holy Spirit. We, as those in Christ Jesus, are as a love letter from Christ to the world–“written not with ink (or not armed with a sledgehammer) but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:3, ESV) We must do the hard work of loving others rather than legislating as those far removed.

As Mr. Dickson said during the podcast interview, “You can’t ‘win’ (people, hearts) without looking like Christ. We ‘win’ through loving others and suffering for the gospel and sharing with people about the suffering Messiah.”

At the moment, and in holding ourselves up to the gospel as a mirror, it appears that several in the body of Christ through not only this action, but additional actions to “keep the culture in check,” are not serving as a love letter to the world, but rather a cascade of contradictions.

Heavenly Father, let not the power be wielded by our hands to transform, but by your Spirit. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

-Nicole

FYI: A great “Faith and Law” lecture “From the Garden to Government: What Does Creation Have to Do with Politics?” with Dr. Vincent Bacote, Professor of Theology at Wheaton College.

06.30.23
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Latest Articles for These Times

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

In my work as Director of State Public Policy with the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), I share with you some of the articles I have published for their blog, The Point. I hope the writings give you more insight to our collective work in public policy to help advance biblical and medically ethical principles in healthcare to advance human flourishing. I also write these articles to encourage and equip the body of Christ in such times as these.

Sophisticated Lies Endanger Everyone—Black, Brown, White and Other
Pitching Our Tents in This Present Darkness

Are You Visiting People in Their Quicksand?
We Are All Dying—And Some Want You Dead Sooner
Pregnancy Resource Centers’ Life-Affirming Work Exposes Murder Without Accountability of the Abortion Industry
We Have This Understanding
A “Right Now” Word
Is Wickedness Gaining the Upper Hand? Hardly.
Unless You Tell Them
Born to Die to Self

Escaping Death

This is Advocacy: Our Work Begins and Ends with God

https://cmda.org/there-is-a-better-way/

11.18.22
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There is More!

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8, New International Version)

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, New International Version)

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

I like potatoes. Fried, twice baked, mashed, fries or chips, I like them all. Recently, I was facilitating a panel discussion with various leaders of the organization I work for as they shared many benefits to educate, equip and encourage our members who are primarily Christian healthcare students and healthcare professionals. As they reviewed the benefits and services available to members, I recapped with the audience by saying, “There is more! It’s like the delight we feel when we find more fries in the bag!”

I had not planned on saying that but it is what dropped in my spirit perhaps given my love for fries/potatoes! But as I continued to speak, the audience was smiling and nodding, resonating with the visual and delight many of us have experienced when after eating what we thought were all the fries in the carton, some loose fries fell in the bag and we were overjoyed to have more!

(Consequently, the same joy is not typically experienced with a bag of chips–“vacuum packed”–to be half full of what you expected and paid for)

The example of “more fries in the bag” I hope is an encouraging visual that gives us a spirit of expectation at a time of inflation, higher food prices, and a cause for trimming expenses and tightening the purse strings. God does not want us to live in a disposition or spirit of scarcity or shortage. There is more!

The aforementioned scriptures of 2 Corinthians 9:8 and Philippians 4:19 assure us that there is no shortage of supply, good things and promise with our God! It is tempting to get into a disposition of scarcity, thinking that things are in short supply; that we have to hold on to what we have or we may even lose that. A disposition of scarcity keeps us from believing for more and from being assured that THERE IS MORE. Our God is MORE THAN ABLE to supply our needs especially as we trust in Him. Not only does God care that our material and physical needs are met, He also provides abundance for our spiritual prosperity, which is even more important.

I am purposely emphasizing spiritual prosperity and not a “false health and wealth prosperity gospel” that was birthed from material law.

Psalm 1:1-3 reads “1Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers.” (English Standard Version)

God is not a “genie in the bottle” by which people construct a god to meet their every whim, material desire, fleshly desire, etc., without having to surrender or submit. God absolutely desires and honors our obedience to Him (because of our devotion and love for Him). Obedience is the Believers success that enables us to prosper spiritually and perhaps materially in situations and in life because we have followed God’s instructions. Fiat law in essence means “legally binding” and “it shall be done.” We can trust Him and His Word as we line up with His word in our living. As the Benson Commentary on Psalm 1:3 says, “His leaf also shall not wither — His blessedness is not short and transitory, as all worldly felicity is, but fixed and everlasting, like those trees which are continually green and flourishing. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper — All his actions, being directed by the word, providence and grace of God, shall be crowned with success in one respect or another, (for even disappointments, losses, and afflictions, shall work for his good,) and with a blessed effect or end.”

Fixed and everlasting. Praise the Lord, saints!!

God has fitted us to overcome–even in a season of affliction or inflation. If we dare to hold to God’s unchanging hand, meditate on his word day and night; if we commit to following Him and His instructions, we will find that faith and obedience is the Believer’s greatest success and most importantly, our spiritual prosperity, allowing us to abound in every good work. We will absolutely bear fruit (for others to benefit from). We will be like that tree planted by streams of water whose leaves are always green. Brothers and sisters, there is indeed more!

God bless you!

Nicole

05.29.22
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Check Your Enthusiasm

Put everything to the test. Hold fast to that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

“Christians are not only being persecuted for their faith but also for their foolishness.” -Dr. Tony Evans

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11 (New International Version)

Scrutinize. Examine. Inspect.

As Christians we are indeed called to be salt and light. I would not want to imagine this world without such. Yet, for some Christians in their effort to “do right” there is a reckless enthusiasm that hitches itself to something (or someone) posited as “virtuous” to come against and rid the culture wars landing on our doorsteps. The enthusiasm is ginned up in a fear and panic to “take back our country,” quickly turning ‘virtuous actions’ into an “us vs. them” battle. Christians who are supposed to be known for their kindness and love have resorted to tactics used by the world such as name-calling, mudslinging and bullying. The posture of conspiracy, fear and “hair on fire” anger has swung the pendulum so far as to dismiss how we should approach one another and the issues of our day.

Tragically forgotten is our spiritual authority and positioning as those redeemed in Christ Jesus. We are seated with Him in heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). We need not resort to the ways of the world or get spun up by the continued deterioration of this world. Scripture tells us that this world is perishing and is in fact passing away. Even as the storms are tossing, remember that Jesus is in the boat with us.

I work in public policy in particular to advocate for healthcare legislation that is ethical and will advance human flourishing without diminishing human dignity. The work requires my engagement in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to monitor various bills of interest being introduced in the state legislatures. A good work and one certainly of spiritual warfare that I am blessed to do with many godly, prayerful and ethical advocates. Yet, I have also seen bad bills introduced from both sides of the aisle in attempt to “take back our country” in the “us vs. them” battle.

Unfortunately, if you’re not angry or fearful enough, if you’re not riled up, it’s thought that something is wrong with you. If you are not wholly partisan, then often you are considered an enemy; as one who has deviated from the tribe. Aka, “If you’re not with us, then you’re against us.” From this podcast episode of The Holy Post on the “war on winsomeness,” co-host Skye Jethani speaks on the fear that has captivated some Believers: “If you are captivated by fear, you cannot love. Fear leads to self-preservation.” Even winsomeness has come under attack when wisdom would unshackle them from fear and reckless enthusiasm. In facing the issues, some Christians do not imitate our loving God who is above the situation. We are not the sweet smelling aroma of Christ.

In Dr. Tony’s message “God is Shaking Things Up” delivered at the 2021 National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention held in Grapevine, Texas, he gave a hard but truthful word: “Christians are not only being persecuted for their faith but also for their foolishness.”

Turns out that while the church has been caught up in CRT, removing books about Ruby Bridges, name-calling the liberals and bad-mouthing the conservatives, the biggest threat to the Church as been itself.

Dr. Evans went on to say:

“The White church has become too Republican by wrapping our faith in the American flag. When you pursue a nationalistic faith, you corrupt the Gospel because you have not made the nation to King Jesus, but to nationalism. The Black church has become idolatrous too. We are often ‘more Black’ than biblical. The evil of abortion and homosexuality the Black church doesn’t often speak to this.”

“Since we serve a Kingdom, let’s act like it. We’re too evangelical and not Kingdom enough.”

We must test everything to ensure it is not our flesh leading us but that we are being led by the Holy Spirit. In using the latter approach, the supernatural happens. Hearts, minds, families and communities are transformed. Repentance happens and people turn from their wicked ways. We foil the schemes of the devil who is out to steal, kill and destroy. People experience true freedom! Decay is held back or reversed. Cities prosper. I know that is ultimately what we desire.

The Bottom Line: Our Commandment to Love Others and Our Call to Holiness

Jesus commands us to love God. Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-48).

God doesn’t need us to right every single wrong on earth, particularly if our actions are conducted in a fashion and spirit that lacks love. He does invite us to be effective messengers of the Gospel, to be ministers of reconciliation, to be Ambassadors of Christ to confront wickedness in a world that is more inclined to run from Him; in a world that pursues its own wisdom rather than God’s perfect wisdom. As those redeemed in Christ Jesus, we carry within us a hope that should anchor us and others rather than driving us to fear and division. Jesus took on human form to model what loving others, even our enemies, should look like. God has given us His Holy Spirit to help us live out that love.

In the Old and New Testament, God says “be ye holy, for I am holy.” That means we live very differently from the world. When we give the Holy Spirit charge over our conduct and our character He will enable us to approach others and the issues of our day in a godly way. Our enthusiasm and zeal will be in check so that we are not destroying those we are led to help. I know that is ultimately what we want.

I am glad that Jesus is neither “left” nor “right.” He is too big for such categories. His ways and thoughts are far better and higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). His ways are, thankfully, counterintuitive to our natural. Members in the body of Christ have resorted to guerilla warfare when our warfare should begin on our knees. We’re asking God to remake this country and world but let that work begin first with you. Ask Him to remake you.

Heavenly Father, remove our fear and anxiety. Let us see that perfect love casts out all fear. Keep us from the error of an unchecked enthusiasm that pits us against an enemy or “frienemy” we’re commanded to love. Remove any offensive way in us. Lead us in your ways, Father. Let us not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions (1 John 3:18). In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Check out:

The Holy Post: Episode 509: The War on Winsomeness & Interfaith Cooperation with Eboo Patel on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-509-the-war-on-winsomeness-interfaith/id591157388?i=1000562243895

Dr. Tony Evans Message of “God is Shaking Things Up” at the 2021 National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxqfukvddh8

06.01.21
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Is The Universal Church Being Made Visible Today?

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:18-20, New International Version)

RT @BethMooreLPM I believe, if you watch closely, you will see that those who keep or quickly recover their joy are those who by constant practice bring it all back to Jesus again and again. When they’re appalled by this world, they refocus on Jesus. When they’re devastated by people, they steady themselves in Jesus. When they’ve lost faith in institutions, churches, leaders and, inevitably, themselves. They fix their eyes on Jesus and thank God that He’s not like us.

RT @jimcha Thank you, Beth. As a pastor of more than 30 years who recently walked away, this spoke to my heart deeply. Happened across a Rich Mullins song while driving home tonight–it was all I could do to not burst into tears. I love Jesus, though I am finding His church unrecognizable.

RT @BethMooreLPM Oh Jim, I am heartbroken. I’m so so sorry. There is going to be life on the other side of this. Meaning. Ministry. And church. Don’t give up on it. There is community for you. May Christ be so evident to you as you heal. And, brother, let those tears fall.

From reading the May 30, 2021 above referenced Twitter thread exchanged between Bible teacher and author, Beth Moore and a pastor named Jim Chamberlin, I can say that in this past year I’ve felt a similar sadness as Pastor Chamberlin in finding the Church ‘unrecognizable.’ My heart goes out to Pastor Chamberlin. I feel the weight of his words. After being in sorrow about the state of our world, the Church and some of its people, and the institutions, and the character I thought they should have had, I have also encouraged myself by fixing my eyes on Jesus, gratefully knowing that He is my and our Greatest Hope. The joy of the Lord is and has remained my strength, as noted in Nehemiah 8:10. In all of the turmoil and division in what looks like intractable chaos and disintegration, Jesus is reconciling all things to Himself. In Paul’s letter to God’s people in Colossae, to the “faithful brothers and sisters in Christ” as he writes in Colossians 1, it is a message to God’s people. And so it is, as Mrs. Moore tweeted in encouraging follow up and heartfelt empathy to Pastor Chamberlin, there will be life on the other side of this. We will see God at work in the messiness. There will be meaning. God is reconciling it all. Will we, will I be then patient in the travailing, in the reconciling? It seems a long time getting there but I know it is coming.

The issues of the universal Church are myriad. I won’t list the issues here as you’re likely acutely aware what are those growing pains. The maturity of the Church and whether the Church is being made visible to the world, is if Jesus–not the ‘Jesus’ we’ve created to fit our agenda–if Jesus is being made manifest in these fleshly temples. If we are truly living out the nine fruits of the Spirit (faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, joy, kindness, love, patience, peace, and self-control) as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23, we will reflect Christ to the world and to each other. By yielding to the Holy Spirit, Jesus is recognizable in you and me. If we are appealing in our character, then Jesus will be recognizable in you and me. If we decrease self so Christ can increase, then Jesus will be recognizable in you and me. Thereby, I believe we’ll come through like pure gold. It’s all about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus.

Keep your hope,

Nicole

04.11.21
by

Where Do You Live?

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36, English Standard Version)

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

When someone asks you, “Where do you live?,” your response would be framed based on whether or not you and that person share the same region, state, city, neighborhood or community. We respond giving them a physical or geographic reference. Such reference offers the person more context about us and our life to give them a better picture (or assumption) about us.

But for this message, we are citizens of heaven as Paul tells us in Philippians 3:20-21. We are of another kingdom, a kingdom not of this world as Jesus tells us in the aforementioned John 18:36. We are foreigners traversing this earth in these earthly bodies until we are called to our eternal home. While in these earthly bodies as citizens of heaven, we strive to live out kingdom principles while engaging with earthly culture, institutions, kingdoms and systems. It is our goal to engage with the culture as we undertake The Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-20) but not to become ensnared by the culture; to be in it but not of it.

Where Do You Live?

No doubt, we have seen the uprising and clinging to of the “kingdoms” we’ve established–our institutions, strongly held ideologies, opinions, tentpoles, insecurities, fears and zero-sum viewpoints. These “kingdoms” quite often conflict with God’s Kingdom. It’s unclear how clinging to any of these reaches others. I am sure the Lord finds it all infantile. If we are truly living out the Gospel, we should be extended out of tribalism.

In his book on racial reconciliation, One: Healing the Racial Divide (September 2020), Pastor Dennis Rouse addresses our society’s racial and political divide. Rouse challenges readers to examine these issues in the light of Scripture, calling the Church to build a “kingdom culture” that transcends biases, preferences, and even political loyalties, and instead fosters unity and healing in the body of Christ. I enjoyed his book and recommend it for your reading. He articulates the sadness and lament I feel given the past year or more’s racial and political division within the body of Christ: “A person’s level of disappointment is the difference between expectation and realization.” While I am not “pollyannish,” admittedly, I have had higher expectations about the Church’s spiritual maturity–not recognizing the reality of where we actually are.

We are praying for the Church to become one; to be fully matured, lacking nothing. I am and you are right to be expectant and hopeful of the Church’s true unity through diversity and oneness in a time of division. It will happen! Christ will make sure that His Bride is ready and found without spot, without wrinkle and without blemish. It will happen by His Word and by His work!

Therefore:

Are we willing to surrender any and all of these “kingdoms” we’ve constructed in order to extend ourselves to the other? Can we forgo these kingdoms, can we forgo spoiling for a debate, will we deny ourselves the right to be right and be ready to lose whatever we might lose, so we aren’t ensnared by the culture? Will we deny ourselves for God’s Kingdom? Where do you live?

When Jesus walked the earth, He was always extending Himself to “those people” aka, anyone who wasn’t like Him, aka, us, the “whosoevers”! Does where you live wall you off from others who do not agree with you? Will we pull up the tent stakes and welcome others? Would we move heaven and earth to do so? Rouse says, “Loving “the other” is what real Christians do…or it’s at least what real Christians genuinely want to do. And they will move heaven and earth to make it happen.” Where do you live?

Knowing what we know about ourselves and where we live any given day between earthly kingdoms and God’s Kingdom, knowing that we are daily being sanctified to look more like Christ to one day be perfected, Lord, we need Your grace. Thank you, Lord, for taking the time to shape us, to strive with us. That you love us too much to leave us unfinished; that you will grow us out of our insecurities; that you will perfect us.

While I like every song performed by gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds, his newly released song, Grace, is ever becoming my favorite. Sharing it with you as we think on the gift of God’s grace, how much we need it and how lost we would be without it. With the immeasurable grace and love God has shown us, may we as brothers and sisters in Christ, as the Church, extend such grace and love that confuses the world.

Love and blessings,

Nicole