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My dear friends,
This has been a grievous week for our country, and specifically for Texas. The deaths of two black men at the hands of policemen in Louisiana and Minnesota this week brought the tension within all our communities to a higher level, even as investigations of those shootings are just beginning. The targeting and shooting of Dallas policemen, the killing of five of them, is an indicator of this tension reaching tragic heights.
God’s people are bearers of his answer to grief, to injustice, to racism and to rage. In the coming days, Texas will lay to rest five men whom God describes in Romans 13 as “minister[s] to you for good.” We honor them for their sacrifice, and we honor their fellow officers for their continued service. They are God’s servants in the civic realm, even as we are in the spiritual realm. Let us strive to be ministers of God’s peace and righteousness and justice.
This week, several of our churches will host prayer meetings around the state. Perhaps God can use the tragic deaths of policemen and civilians this week to drive us to our knees in unity around the cross of Christ and dependence on our merciful God. I think of our Look Like Heaven emphasis as our churches and communities gather. This effort was born in the heart of Pastor Terry Turner when he served as our president. He saw in his heart, and we join him in praying, that God’s people will be one in purpose and one in love without regard for the external things that try to divide us. May the Lord’s churches look more like heaven even as we pray for that day when we gather around the throne of God.
I encourage you to devote yourself to prayer as you grieve for our nation and seek God’s guidance and mercy for our people. I pray that this season of prayer will embolden you to share the good news of life in Christ from the pulpit and everywhere you go. Transformed lives will transform communities.
God bless you as you minister reconciliation in your congregations and communities in the coming days. It is my great joy to serve alongside you in this eternally significant work.
Jim Richards
