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Photo above: The Fellowship is proud to host the National Baptist Convention of America International on a tour of the Holy Land, where they will explore Israel’s national treasures and the Fellowship programs. (Photo: IFCJ Facebook)
Twenty-six African-American Christian leaders are participating in a May 23-29 educational trip to Israel sponsored by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship).
The visiting delegation is from the National Baptist Convention of America, a predominately black church. Yael Eckstein, senior vice president of The Fellowship, said the trip is part of an effort to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and to “build strategic friends and allies for the Jewish people both financially and politically.”
“Just seeing the country and experiencing [it] is something which can build a greater connection with Israel,” she said.
Rev. Samuel C. Tolbert Jr.—president of the National Baptist Convention of America—said he hoped to use the trip to help find “common ground” between Palestinians and Israelis
This Pastor Is Pulling No Punches About 'Demonic' South Carolina Massacre
The interior of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where the 9 church-goers, including the pastor, were gunned down in an apparent hate crime during a Wednesday evening prayer service. (Facebook)
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The mass shooting tragedy that has shaken Charleston and the nation has caused the a pastor of a neighboring Southern Baptist Church to condemn the attack as demonic in origin.
"Everyone together—white, black, Hispanic, everybody—we're coming together in unity to see this not only [as] an attack on people, but an attack on the body of Christ," said Keith Biggs, associate pastor of Citadel Square Baptist Church, which is on the same block as Mother Emanuel AME Church, where the shooting occurred. "I mean, who can walk into a church and sit for an hour and have prayer, and then just begin to kill everybody?"
Suspected shooter Dylann Roof, who is white, made anti-black statements to his African-American victims right before killing them, according to law enforcement officials. But though police are investigating the attack as a hate crime, Biggs says bigotry and hatred is just the tip of the iceberg.
"As everybody said on TV, it goes deeper than just hate. To me, this is something that's very demonic to be able to do that. It's a big spiritual warfare, so we're coming together," he said. "We've just got to pray and seek direction, see how we can help one another, see how we can pray to get this action and so forth out of here. Everybody is very calm right now and just looking for answers."
Meanwhile, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Ronnie Floyd issued a statement echoing Biggs' sentiment. The statement was joined by Philadelphia pastor K. Marshall Williams, president of the SBC National African American Fellowship; California pastor A.B. Vines, NAAF's immediate past president; and Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
"The brutal massacre of those in prayer at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church should shock the conscience of every person," part of the statement read. "There is hardly a more vivid picture of unmasked evil than the murder of those in prayer.
"This act of bloodshed is wicked and more than wicked. It is literally satanic, as our Lord taught us that the devil is a 'murderer from the beginning'" (John 8:44).
Meanwhile, the SBC statement, Biggs, and many other faith leaders are unanimous on what the Church needs to be doing now:
"Pray."
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Charleston Attack: When God Is at Work, Satan Reacts
A woman mourns after the shooting at Emanuel AME Church outside of Charleston. (Reuters)
"There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of Scripture." So said NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks, condemning Wednesday night's shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
Emanuel AME Church, the scene of the attack, is historically African-American, tracing its roots to 1816. One of its founders tried to organize a slave revolt in 1822; white landowners had his church burned in revenge. Members worshipped underground until after the Civil War. Wednesday's shooting took the life of the church's pastor and eight others, and has been labeled a hate crime (For more, see Nick Pitts's article Tragedy in Charleston).
Wherever God is at work, Satan reacts. His first strategy is "to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10). When Jesus' movement gained a national following, Satan led Judas to betray our Lord (John 13:2, 27). When Peter preached at Pentecost and 3,000 were converted, Satan incited the religious authorities to arrest them and demand that they cease preaching (Acts 4). When Paul's ministry reached global status, Satan led the authorities to arrest and eventually behead him.
More people are coming to Christ today than at any time in human history, and Satan is again responding through violence. According to John Allen, longtime Vatican journalist, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination around the world are directed at Christians. Ninety percent of all religious martyrs are Christians. Terror attacks against Christians escalated 309 percent between 2003 and 2010.
Persecution is strongest where the kingdom is advancing the fastest. In the Muslim world, where more have come to Christ in the past 15 years than the previous 15 centuries, attacks on Christians are more common than ever before. Newsweekrecently reported: "In recent years the violent oppression of Christian minorities has become the norm in Muslim-majority nations stretching from West Africa and the Middle East to South Asia and Oceania." The magazine then stated, "The conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance has to stop." (For more, see my book Respected to Irrelevant to Dangerous.)
Persecution against Christians is increasing in China, where as many as 100,000 people come to Christ every day. It is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa, where as many as 28,000 come to Christ daily. It is increasing in Cuba, where more than a million have come to Christ in the last decade. The pattern is clear.
How can we pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters? Acts 12:5 tells us that after Peter was arrested by Herod, "earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." Their intercession was passionate: "earnest" translates ektenos, fervent, zealous. It was continual: "prayer was made" is in the imperfect tense, literally "prayer was constantly being made." It was specific: "for him." And it was collective: "by the church."
God is calling his people to pray passionately, continually, specifically and collectively for Emanuel AME Church and for all who are risking their lives to follow Jesus. And he has calling us to pray in the same way for the spiritual awakening we desperately need.
Charles Spurgeon: "I know of no better thermometer to your spiritual temperature than this, the measure of the intensity of your prayer." What is your spiritual temperature today?
Jim Denison, Ph.D., is founder of the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, a non-sectarian "think tank" designed to engage contemporary issues with biblical truth. Join over 100,000 who read Dr. Denison's daily Cultural Commentary: denisonforum.org/subscribe. For more information on the Denison Forum, visit denisonforum.org. To connect with Dr. Denison in social media, visit twitter.com/jimdenison or facebook.com/denisonforum.
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I was raised in a traditional church where people worshipped God reverently while holding identical blue hymnals. The only instruments in our church were a piano and an organ, and nobody got too excited except for the one old man on the front row who sometimes belted out an uncomfortable "amen" during the preacher's sermon.
Then, at age 18, I had a life-changing experience with the Holy Spirit—and I ended up visiting an African-American church on the other side of town. These people worshipped Jesus with no inhibitions. They flailed their arms, shouted "Hallelujah!" and swayed to the beat of drums. I was so energized by their passionate praise it that I couldn't wait for the next meeting.
I soon learned from studying Scripture that my African-American brothers and sisters were worshipping the biblical way, even though it was foreign to me. God never intended His people to hide their enthusiasm. The more exuberant I became in my worship, the more personal freedom I experienced. I began to leave the shallow waters of religious tradition. I ventured into the deep ocean of total abandonment.
I learned what it means to worship God with my whole heart—with no fear of people's opinions.
Many churches today have adopted a free style of worship, and some of the best praise music ever recorded is available to our generation. Yet I find that many Christians have still not learned the secret of uninhibited praise. Many of us are content to listen to a music team on stage when God never intended a worship service to be a concert. He invites all of us to be fully and radically engaged in extravagant worship.
Have you shed your inhibitions in worship? I often challenge people to compare their worship experience with the book of Psalms, which should be the standard for every church regardless of nationality, culture or denomination. Psalms calls us to joyful, energetic, unreserved, high-voltage praise.
Have you found the freedom to express your worship in these ways?
1. Declaring praise. The psalmist says: "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." (Ps. 107:2). Praise is simply honoring God for His character and attributes. But it is not enough to just think nice thoughts about Him—you must verbalize how much you are thankful for His mercy, forgiveness and goodness.
2. Raising hands. King David said: "I will lift up my hands in Your name" (Ps. 63:4). I'll never forget the first time I saw a room full of Christians praising God with their hands in the air. It looked like a bank robbery! God asks us to raise our hands because our physical posture affects our hearts. Lifting your hands will help you surrender totally to Him.
3. Singing. Can you imagine a world without music? It lifts our hearts, releases joy and breaks the power of anxiety. The psalmist said: "I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You O Lord I will sing praises" (Ps. 101:1). Don't just listen to songs in church or mouth the words halfheartedly. Turn up your volume and belt it out—and don't worry if you are in tune. All God wants from you is a joyful noise.
4. Shouting. We don't think anything about screaming at the top of our lungs for our favorite sports team. But are you comfortable cheering for Jesus? The psalmist wrote: "My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You" (Ps. 71:23). The shouts of God's people caused the walls of Jericho to fall. Some types of spiritual resistance will not come down until you raise your voice.
5. Clapping. The psalms have several references to clapping (Ps. 47:1), but it is not just a way to make noise. Clapping in worship has an invisible spiritual impact. Psalm 149:6-8 says that when we engage in the "high praises of God," we bind spiritual principalities with chains. High-decibel praise is a form of spiritual warfare that has profound impact on demonic powers. No wonder the devil has convinced some churches to stay quiet!
6. Dancing. One of the most powerful moments I ever experienced in worship was when I danced in a church for more than an hour with a group of Christians in Nigeria. I was absolutely soaked with sweat by the end of the service, and my calves were sore the next morning, but my spirit was free. Many Christians are too self-conscious to express their worship in dance, even if it's just a simple sway or a side-to-side shuffle. But the Bible is still clear: "Let them praise His name with dancing" (Ps. 149:3). If you want God to move in your life, you may need to move when you worship!
7. Kneeling. Catholics and liturgical Protestants have practiced kneeling during worship for centuries, but many of us Pentecostals and charismatics have forgotten this vital biblical practice. Muslims bow in prayer five times a day, yet it has become a strange practice in the evangelical church. David wrote: "Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker" (Ps. 95:6). Kneeling inspires humility, and reminds us that we are not God. You may find the most profound experience with Jesus occurs when you are on your knees.
When King David brought the ark into Jerusalem, he was so overjoyed that true worship was restored that he danced before God with abandon. Yet his wife Michal was so embarrassed by his radical display of devotion that she criticized him—and became barren as a result (see 1 Sam. 6:12-23).
Who would you rather be in that story—the wholehearted worshipper or the stick-in-the-mud religious critic? Don't let tradition, spiritual pride or personal hang-ups stop you from experiencing all God has for you. Break out of your box and turn up your volume.
J. Lee Gradyis the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter@leegrady. He is the author of The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale and other books. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, at themordecaiproject.org.
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