Racism 2019 Pt 2

Welcome to Man Talk brought to you by TAWCMN, talking and walking Christian men's ministry where they're devoted to breaking down the walls of race and denomination, and challenging men to take their God-assigned role. Here's our hosts Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white man.

Welcome back to Man Talk Radio. This is Roy Jones. I'm the white guy.

And I'm Will Hardy. I'm the black guy. And we got two guests with us again today for the second half of this topic about racism and racial divide, which is totally, totally destroying the United States of America. And we are just voices. This is attempting to let God bless us to reach someone out there who need to hear about this topic because they might be riding around thinking that I'm not a racist and never happened to me.

I don't know any racist people. But if you measure yourself by your actions or by your standard, then you're always going to be right. Well, the mind has a great ability to rationalize everything, right, Will? And Satan, as we've all talked, Satan uses that as, I think, one of his greatest tools. He gets us distracted, gets us convinced that we're in the right position and we're in the right frame of mind and heart, right? But, you know, one of the things that I wanted to ask about, and Jerome had shared in last week's show about something that happened on the road, and I think there's some other components that he's witnessed, and Michael works as a public defender in Guilford County and can share while we were on Getting Ready for the Show, it came up that part of this racism issue or discrimination piece is so, so blatant that we've just accepted it.

And so what I call the slow fade and that we've just, we've accepted it over time, and we've just become numb to it, where if we just saw it in the light that it truly was, it would be shocking to us. And Michael made a good point, said, Roy, you know, if you were walking down the street with an AR-15, you would understand your Second Amendment rights, you would share that if someone questioned you about it, you'd push back. But if a black man walks down the road with an AR-15, especially depending on what neighborhood he's in, he's going to be questioned and targeted for a different type of persecution, I'll call it, or questioning or just basically discriminated against because of his color and the fact he could be doing the same thing that I would be doing, but would be viewed differently. So Michael and Jerome, Jerome, why don't you open up, you were going to share with us too a little bit about the military piece, but also why don't you just open back up and you guys will have a little bit of open mic time here. You just tell me what's on your heart because, guys, we want this to be God's words coming through your heart.

We don't want anything scripted, so we've been very clear to just share our hearts on the show with you folks. All right, as Roy stated in his introduction that I didn't care too much for white people, but how did we get past that? See, we can spend two hours, two days talking about the problem.

We need to be talking about the solutions. On how I got over it, I had to put myself around them, started to understand them, and through the help of God, a white guy is no different than a black guy. You got some good white guys and you got some bad white guys. You got some good black guys, you got some bad white guys. But what I'm saying is that when we put God's word in there and we know that we're doing kingdom work and not church work, then it don't matter what color you are, it's just all about getting your assignment done. So in the process of doing your assignment, you don't care what color they are beside you because you're not working for your good, you're working for the good of the kingdom.

And I would just follow up on that. You do have to get uncomfortable. You have to be in situations that you normally would not be in. Because what happens is God sees Roy, me, and anyone else through the blood of Christ, if you are a believer. And so there's this completed work on Calvary that allows us to be equal at the foot of the cross.

And so last week you were talking about stepping on toes, but it's not about being politically correct. It's about being biblically correct. And the Bible will take us to a place of correctness. You know, throughout scripture, we see that the believer broke down racial barriers. Philip went to the Samaritans.

Philip went to the Ethiopian eunuch. Christ himself engaged the Samaritan woman at the well, saw beyond race to get to the heart of the matter, which is that we all need to be redeemed. We all need the redemption of Jesus's blood to get us beyond foolishness, which is racism. Amen.

Amen. And you know, as you're listening to this program, I would just challenge anybody that's listening, and Jerome makes a good point, and Michael about the fellowship, and the blood of Christ will get us past all this, is how many people are you socializing with that don't look like you? How many people are you going to church with that don't look like you? How many people are you working with that don't look like you?

How many people are you shopping with that don't look like you? And hey, I'm speaking here, and one thing I've always said, I'm speaking from a man of experience, not with an opinion. So hey, early on in my life, I grew up in the 70s and 80s, late 60s and 70s, I understand a little bit what went on, because I was just coming to school when desegregation was coming about.

But here's the piece. If we don't step forward, and like I think Michael said, God is perfectly capable in the supernatural, paraphrasing in the earlier show. If we don't step forth in the natural, and allow him to change us and start doing something about it, it's never going to do any nothing's ever going to happen.

But if we do step forward in the natural, he'll come up side of us in the supernatural, and he will empower us to level. We had no idea that things could be accomplished with everyone's efforts, and a loving heart for each other. I'd like to submit a challenge for all of the listeners, the purpose in their heart, to go out and find someone that don't look like them in this fellowship. And you will find out through conversation, y'all have a lot in common. So the commonality is, you're all supposed to be believers.

Amen. There's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. If we cannot accept God's word as the final authority, then we're going to accept everything else. And this is what has us at this place that we're at right now. So it goes back to what we say quite often, seek ye first the kingdom of God.

Right? That's the very first objective, seek ye first the kingdom of God. Matthew 6.33, yes.

We do that, then everything else falls in line behind that. So for seeking first the kingdom of God, God has no separation, God has no racism, God has no discrimination. He said, love your neighbor as yourself. And to Jerome's point earlier, you've got to love yourself in order to love others. But here's the thing, if you stay in the same mode and you stay in the same functionality, you stay in the same way of doing things, nothing's ever going to change.

Nothing's ever going to change. And the last piece of this is that you will not get the full blessing of God as long as we're out of alignment with God. You cannot receive the full blessing that God has in store for us, and that's us being the body, if we're out of alignment with God. And this is why the Word of God, again, we talked about in the first show, in Proverbs 16, later on down in that verse, the chapter, I believe it's verse either 10 or 11 that says, when a man's ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies to be at peace with him. So if that man is your enemy or he is projecting this racism ideology that he's holding on to, that he's probably saying to himself, I'm not a racist. But how you respond to him in a way God says, I will change his attitude. I will change his ideology. But you have to believe me, God, in order for me to do that in him. It certainly is an issue of faith and a commitment to the faith.

Those scriptures just speak right to what God wants to accomplish in our lives. Jerome gave a challenge. What I would like to back up behind that challenge is this.

Hey, if it doesn't work the first time, don't quit because guess what? This enemy's out there to still kill and destroy. So if you're out there trying to kingdom work, he's going to distract you. He's going to steal. He's going to kill it.

He's going to destroy it. And if you were one of these people said, well, I tried once, but it just didn't work. You know, it just didn't work. They just felt very uncomfortable. They want to go eat somewhere. They want to go eat. I've never been that side of town. I don't know about going all the way over there.

Folks, get out of your comfort zone. Christ never sat still. He was always moving.

And hey, if they didn't receive him, guess what he did? He moved on. It's a faith walk. It's a forward walk. It is. So there's absolutely nothing wrong with keep going.

Right, Jerome? If you start it and it doesn't work, go find somebody else. Just say, hey, thank you for your time. This is not where we need to be, but I'll keep moving. Out of love, say those kind of things and move on. But yes, still, even in keeping forward and moving on, if you continue to have love, even if that person still does not like you, it's just like putting hot coals on their head. Absolutely, absolutely. So we're to keep love on display. That's right. Always keep love going forward. Right.

And nothing else. Love covers a multitude of faults. So whatever faults that we see, even in ourselves, we still can overcome it by continuing to show love. Amen. Well, hey, folks, we're going to take a break here just for just about a minute and a half, and we'll be right back with you. We appreciate you tuning in to part two.

Again, we are excited about having Michael and Jerome with us today. And if you've been listening, we just want to challenge you. Reflect back on what your life looks like. When you stand before God, are you going to be able to say, look, Father, I have done what you've asked me to do.

And he's going to say, I know you did, my child. I see your efforts. If you can't say that, it's never too late.

It's never too late to start working for the kingdom and start following Christ at a higher level. So that's what we want to encourage you here. We love you folks. We're just trying to say, let's make a difference, because if we don't make a difference, Satan wins. He knows we're headed home if you're following Christ. But if he keeps us distracted and ineffective, guess what?

We're not making an impact for the kingdom. So we'll be right back here after break. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Man Talk. And we have been talking about the subject of racism. And we've been talking a little bit about the problem of racism, situations, and circumstances we may have been in and experienced racism. Now we want to close this last half of the show in talking about some of the solutions, some of the things that we can do as members of the body of Christ.

And we're talking to that audience out there of the individuals who know that they're born again and they're blood washed and they're on their way to heaven. Because we can talk about things like this all day, but we have to demonstrate them. We have, they have to be action oriented.

Yeah. We want to understand what some practical ways to make a difference are. So Michael, why don't you lead off and then Jerome, we'll ask you behind that in your heart, what's God put on your mind are some practical ways that we can start putting the wheels moving forward in the emotion.

So one of the first things I believe you have to do is purpose in your heart and be intentional about engaging people. You know, we do, we've lost the art of conversation. We've lost the art of just reaching across the table to a person that may not look like you and just say, let me talk to you.

Let me have a conversation with you and roll wheel doing that. You John was not here with us tonight, but we have fellowshiping with one another. We're taking the mask off with being transparent with one another. And when you engage people, instead of just walking past people, whether it's in the marketplace, the workplace, the neighborhoods, we need to be more intentional about just engaging one another. That's great.

Michael Jerome, what about you? New to come from behind our walls, get out into the, into the hedges and highways, quit just singing a song, Lord, send me, I'll go, but we're not going anywhere. I'm a soldier in the army of the Lord, but we're not marching nowhere. So hopefully you all understand that you can sing a lot as well as tell a lot.

So let's either quit singing those songs or start living those songs out. I'll just say this one thing, Christ isn't divided. That's right. You know? So there's no white Christian, there's no black Christian, there's no Hispanic Christian. There is the body of Christ. And if we say, uh, don't understand that, then we call him a liar and we know he's not a liar.

No, he's not. So are you a lamb or your goat? Cause that day will come.

Absolutely. And he'll say, depart from me. I never knew you or enter into the gates and into kingdom of heaven. If he knew, if he knows us, if he knew us when we were here and to Jerome's point, Michael's point, you know, and I think this is this, this hits back to the heart of the church folks. Most people are checking the box. A lot of people are just checking the box on Sunday and you've heard us talk about what is the Monday through Saturday face look like. Would this, if someone at church saw you out on out in the marketplace on Monday or Tuesday and saw you behave the way you behave, would they know that you're a follower of Christ by the way you're behaving, not by what you're attempting to say and even maybe by what you're saying they may see it or not, but if we're not living it out and we're not walking it out, then we're just a facade and we know what God says about lukewarmness.

He spew you out of his mouth. And I think to Jerome and Michael's point, let's have the conversation. Let's talk about the things we can do to make a difference. Let's have the conversation. Let's start.

Let's start it. Let's step out in the natural and let God take it from the supernatural. All he's asking us to do is to make that first step and he'll take it from there. And if you've got the Holy Spirit in your heart and in your life, you're going to know when you're supposed to move and when you're supposed to sit still. Right Will?

That's right. You know, he's going to let you know if you, and if you're part of a men's group right now and, and your men's group is quote unquote active, ask yourself the question, are you really doing anything? What conversations have you had and what connections have you made to go out and visit a local fellowship of people who don't look like you? What are they doing? Find out what they're doing. Connect with them. You don't have to reinvent something when God has already got some things in motion. So look around your neighborhood, the places where you're going to, uh, to your local church body and seek individuals out on what they're doing.

Look for bulletins and see how we can connect, how you can be a vital part of a ministry that might be active, but really not doing anything for the cause of Christ. I would just add, you know, we're going to make mistakes. Even when we try to come up against one another and interact with one another, we'll say things that maybe we shouldn't have said, but it's okay. We keep moving forward. You don't let those mistakes, those, uh, gaffes stop you. You continue moving forward in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let's continue to walk in love, that's going to be your biggest tool in your toolbox. When that you can continue in that love walk, your conversation is going to change. Your attitude is going to change and your group is going to change because if we're not adding to the kingdom, why are we here? That's exactly right.

That's why, that's the whole point. That's the great commission. You know, as you guys were talking, something else God put on my heart was that, uh, and these men that are sitting in this room have heard me talk about this. If you're part of a conversation that shouldn't be taking place, then you need to step away from it and don't be afraid to call it out and love, say, look, this is not what followers of Christ should be talking about.

This is not what follower Christ should be doing and this is not how followers of Christ should be acting and I know that people are listening today and this is on both sides of the fence. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, yellow, red, whatever. Everybody's got a joke about the other side.

Everybody's heard a joke about the other side. I still, it's still here stuff in my heart that has gone on through years that people say, you know, I watch body language of people and I'll walk away and I've even shared this with you. Uh, um, I've called stuff out and don't and out of love, it's okay to say, Hey, that's wrong. That is wrong and I think we were talking about this melting pot, the skin color may not have melted, but I'll tell you what has melted is the fact that the hearts have melted because we've, we've got so politically correct that it's okay to offend one group of people. It's not okay to offend another group of people and we as Christians and Christ followers know what I'm talking about there. But if you're saying something that's offensive or you hear something that's offensive, you need to step out as a follower of Christ and say, that's wrong.

Excuse me. I'm going to step away from this. Michael and I've had this conversation and folks, you'll be amazed that when you set the standard, how people around you will start to act and they may not be a believer yet, but if you as the believer don't stand on your standards, how can we, how can you ever witness about the love of Christ? And I was gonna say, in order for you to understand what those standards are and we as born again believers, we're standing on kingdom standards. We have to know what they are in order to know what they are. You got to do what a second Timothy chapter two and verse 15 says, study to show thyself approve unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

So if, if I am rightly dividing the word, then I understand the standard because I'm studying and the Holy Spirit is instilling in me what I need in order to take out to the world. Right. And the people that listen and say, I just don't have any more time, Will, I just don't have any more time. Well, you got time to eat. Well, yeah. And then, yeah, exactly. I know.

And that's the thing. And somebody said the other day that you'll find time to do what you want to do. It doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter how busy you are.

You'll find time to do the things you want to do. If Christ loved us enough to send his son to die for us, to die for us, who are we to say? I don't have an hour a day or 30 minutes a day to pray and talk with you, father. I don't have time to sit down and read.

I don't have time to meditate on your, what you're trying to change in my life. Folks, this is a wake up call. If you don't believe what we're telling you, turn on the news for 15 minutes and you'll see it. You're going to see a black man has been shot.

That was unarmed. You're going to see that a kid's been raped. No matter what color that person is, you're going to see a child that has done something to a parent because they didn't get their way. Satan's running loose, folks. You have got to listen to what we're telling you. And if you as the man, this goes back to man talk radio, men, it's your responsibility. It's not your wife's responsibility. It's not your mother's responsibility.

It's your responsibility. Amen? Amen. I would just like to share this in, if you don't have time to invest in a male, you will have time watching that male make time. Hmm. Hmm. Oh, that, that, that's deep right there.

Now let's, let's, let's go back over that in case y'all weren't listening. If you don't have time to invest in a man or male, you will see that male or man do time make time. That's what Jerome said. Hey, if you don't invest in that individual as a, as a follower of Christ and a man that loves that individual, he potentially is going to end up behind bars.

That's exactly right. And how, how are we to show the love of Christ if we don't understand that we have been loved by him? So if we, if we understand and know that we have been loved by him and we understand that all of the work that he did was to benefit me while I am here on the earth and to, to so that I could be in right standings with him, then what else is there left for me except to follow my own way, to be pulled by society, to be shackled by Satan. And I'm reminded, you know, during the men's summit, how he had to change the balls.

And then after a while they were cut. God set him free. And God set him free. And this is what we're saying. We want you free in Christ, not to be bound by Satan. Satan has no dominion over the children of God. And this is, this is the message we want to leave with you.

Be set free by the power of God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for joining us. It's been another great show, Michael on behalf of Will and I and Jerome, we thank you brothers so much. We love you.

Yes we do. Folks visit www.tawcmn.com, check out men's summit 2020, January 24th, 25th. We hope to see you soon. As we wrap up today's show, be assured that TAWCM talking and walking Christian men's ministry is building a community of men that are Christ followers with the desire to be servant leaders in their homes, communities, churches, and work environments. Check out our website for upcoming events and regularly scheduled meetings. Drop us a note for topics that you would like to have us visit in the future. Thank you for joining us on Man Talk today. Visit us at www.tawcmn.com. Men walking the talk. This is the Truth Network.