Author: Chris Luzio

I’m going to try to tie together a Florida vacation, the Super Bowl, and Black History Month in one (and 1/2) column(s).

When the opportunity to spend a week at a friend’s condo in Florida arose, I had mixed emotions. I knew Marilyn would love it, but I’m not much of a beach bum. The idea of sitting in the sun listening to the surf isn’t exactly my cup of tea. To pass the time I decided to take a book that Duane Carrell had loaned me several weeks ago.

The book, subtitled “How to Turn Good Men into Whiners Weenies and Wimps”, was written by Burgess Owens, a team mate of Duane’s when he played with the New York Jets in the 70s. Owens also played in Super Bowl XV with the Oakland Raiders, thus the Super Bowl connection.

Owens began his book by stating, “My life has been filled with many blessings, the most important of these being the family, race, country, and era that I was born into.” He then goes on to note that he was raised in the 1950s and 60s era of segregation, and that “For those who grew up in the Deep South, in the days of the KKK and Jim Crow segregation, pride in community was not founded on the embellishment of opportunities lost due to racism. Instead it was built on the highlighting of the great accomplishments achieved, in spite of the obstacles.” He then notes how all thirteen children in his mother’s household went on to experience “the American dream buffet, which included higher education, successful marriages, families, business ownerships or long job careers, church and community involvement, college education for their children, vacations, reunions, and lifetimes of added-value to their communities and their proud Kirby name.”

The primary focus of his book is then on how much of the black community has lost what it once had, and how policies and programs that have a stated goal of improving their lot in life have actually reduced many to a state of total dependency and hopelessness. He tells of successful black role models of the past, and quotes Booker T. Washington.

“There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs—partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”

Booker T. Washington died over a hundred years ago, but his statement still rings true. And while we do have a responsibility to care for those with legitimate needs, and come to the aid of those who are unable to defend themselves, what the Apostle Paul had to say to the Thessalonians nearly 2,000 years ago is perhaps the best answer for all concerned with inequities in society. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you; so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.” (I Thessalonians 4:11-12)

God Bless, Rick

I was contemplating what to write this week in light of the election. So much has already been written, and it’s easy to alienate by saying something that puts you in one camp or the other. I don’t think a preacher should be partisan, and it really bothers me when politicians are given the pulpit. Still, we are admonished to “pray for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (I Timothy1-2)

This year I have committed to reading through The One Year Chronological Bible. It attempts to place all the books and passages of the Bible in chronological order. Marilyn, Nikki, and Grace have all read it through in a year, but I had not done so. I decided this would be the year, and even though I’m not a big fan of the NIV, I thought it would be good to read the Bible again in another translation.

The reading for last Sunday was from the book of Job, and when I read it, I knew I had found the perfect message for this week. I share with you Job 12:13-23.

“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released.
If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land. To him belong strength and insight; both deceived and deceiver are his.
He leads rulers away stripped and makes fools of judges.
He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth around their waist.
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows officials long established.
He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.
He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light.
He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.”

I pray for President Trump, and I pray that God makes our nation great again.

God Bless, Rick

“Father Abraham had many sons, Many sons had Father Abraham; I am one of them, and so are you, So let’s just praise the Lord.”

That’s the beginning of a silly little song that kids love to sing. As the song progresses they are raising a right hand, a left foot, turning around, and sitting down. I guess I never thought about the implications of the song…until I read that Muslims, Jews and Christians were all singing it together at an interfaith gathering in Springfield.

I’m sure you’re aware that all three faiths claim Abraham as their spiritual father. You may not know that Baha’is do so as well. That makes four major religions all claiming a connection to Abraham, a connection that many would suggest minimizes the difference between world religions, and gives them equal validity.

The Jewish claim is, of course, without question. The Muslim claim is based on the fact that Arab nations descended from Abraham and Hagar, and the Baha’is claim descent from Abraham and Keturah.

In Genesis we do discover that Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael into the desert, and that the sons of Ishmael settled to the south of Canaan all the way to the border of Egypt. He later sent the sons of Keturah and his concubines to the land of the east. Islam originated in Arab lands in the 7th century, and Baha’i in Persia in the 19th. It seems to me that their identity as sons of Abraham has more to do with the ethnicity of the founder than commonality of faith.

In Romans and Galatians Paul makes it clear that we become children of Abraham by sharing the faith of Abraham, and we become heirs of promise through Jesus, the seed of Abraham. And that the only way various people groups can become one is by becoming one in Christ Jesus.

In Genesis 25:18 the NIV notes that the sons of Ishmael lived in hostility toward all their brothers. Sadly much of that hostility remains today, and it won’t go away by simply singing a silly little song together. It will only go away when all acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and the Prince of Peace.

God Bless, Rick