A little over a year ago I drove to Baltimore MD & back in less than 30 hours to be a part of the MULTICULTURAL WORSHIP LEADERS NETWORK conference at Bridgeway Community Church.  I went with curiousity and a desire to network and learn.  I did not expect to find a united, friendly and inclusive group of people who not only warmly welcomed me in but continue to encourage, inspire and challenge me to be part of building a better church.

This week one of the leaders of the network, David Bailey, posted an article that immediately spoke to me.  As we step into the season of Advent tomorrow I'd encourage you to read the whole thing; here is an excerpt:

How Do We Prepare For Advent This Year In Light Of Ferguson?

Step 1: Repent

Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic segregation is so normative in the majority of our Christian communities that our hearts have become hard and numb to God’s passionate desire for diversity in the Body of Christ. We have to repent of our sins of division in order to make room for the Lord to come in our divided churches and divided Ferguson.

Can we pause and pray, “God, please forgive us, we repent! Come, Lord, Come.”

Step 2: Put Love Into Action

Love expressed in Christian community is the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus gave us the commandment to love one another, and Paul gave us the instructions on how to put our love into action in Romans 12:9-16

Step 3: Mourn And Lament Together As A Community

As we enter into our country’s commercialized season of Christmas, it will be easy for the Body of Christ to be caught up in celebration when we need to learn a dimension of intimate love that only comes through mourning and lamenting together.

Mourning and lamenting together as a Christ-centered community builds a solidarity and longing for a unique coming of Christ and His Kingdom that only comes for those that mourn. In our Christian culture of endless celebration, we rarely take the time to mourn and lament, and therefore we are missing dimensions of the Kingdom of God that would equip us for times like we are facing today.

Come, Lord, Come!

Read David’s entire article, which ends with an “urban doxology” song he recently produced, at
http://www.missioalliance.org/let-ferguson-prepare-us-for-this-season-of-advent/