There's a way to get rid of "racism" - get rid of the word "RACE"

At least get rid of the definition:
-A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
[French, from Old French, from Old Italian razza, race, lineage.]

So, what has this to do with our church plant? Well, my husband is planning on speaking on the beginnings of things, according to the Bible. One of the titles he listed was "race." I told him he needed to research that a little more before he spoke on it. I personally don't believe that races exist. There's nothing in the Bible that supports it. Any english version of the Bible that uses "race" in it, you will find the original word is "tribe" - a VERY different term which usually refers to a group of people that are in one location, not a group of people only defined by the color of their skin. Also, during the Tower of Babel, the Bible specifically states that only language was confused. It never refers to outward physical characteristics being affected, at all. Lastly, nothing in the Bible ever separates or defines people by "races". The Bible *does* tell the NATION of Israel to not intermarry, but that was a different law for a specific reason, and referring to the "nation" not race.

I read a book called "One Blood" by Ken Ham, and it is an *excellent* explanation on how Adam and Eve were probably the genetic pool of ALL nationalities, and as the groups of people moved into different regions, certain genetic traits popped up and became dominant. The scientific proof is there. There is no scientific or medical reason for a division of races. Blood types, diseases, and all sorts of genetic traits cross racial lines. Here is a note from the online dictionary after the word race was defined:

Usage Note: The notion of race is nearly as problematic from a scientific point of view as it is from a social one. European physical anthropologists of the 17th and 18th centuries proposed various systems of racial classifications based on such observable characteristics as skin color, hair type, body proportions, and skull measurements, essentially codifying the perceived differences among broad geographic populations of humans. The traditional terms for these populationsCaucasoid (or Caucasian), Mongoloid, Negroid, and in some systems Australoidare now controversial in both technical and nontechnical usage, and in some cases they may well be considered offensive. (Caucasian does retain a certain currency in American English, but it is used almost exclusively to mean “white” or “European” rather than “belonging to the Caucasian race,” a group that includes a variety of peoples generally categorized as nonwhite.) The biological aspect of race is described today not in observable physical features but rather in such genetic characteristics as blood groups and metabolic processes, and the groupings indicated by these factors seldom coincide very neatly with those put forward by earlier physical anthropologists. Citing this and other points such as the fact that a person who is considered black in one society might be nonblack in another many cultural anthropologists now consider race to be more a social or mental construct than an objective biological fact.

Why should race even be used for social reasons? It is only divisive when it's used! To define me by my race is to say, your outward appearance is more important than your heritage, and the real, inner you. You see, in reality, my heritage is American/Italian, but I *look* Asian. If we erased the word "race" out of our minds, it would allow us to ask more questions, care more about the person, who he truly is, and respect what his real heritage is, rather than focus on what makes his outward appearance different from myself. No longer would my kids be an anomaly, a "mixed race" which is still not an option on many applications when asking for race. We must choose either asian/pacific islander OR caucasian. I'm sorry, they are neither one nor the other! If race were erased, our kids would be "American" because that IS their heritage. They are as American as the blonde-haired kid next door. And I wouldn't look at the blonde and assume he was just a white kid. Perhaps I'd try to learn more about him, and realize his family actually moved from Germany a couple of years ago? Wow, he's got a wonderful German heritage that would normally get wiped under the carpet just because he looks like the majority race in this country.

I believe, Christians, more than any others should try to erase "race" from our vocabulary. As I cited previously, nothing in the Bible supports the notion of "race," and nothing medically supports it. We do have nationalities, which helps define our culture or heritage, but races provide neither. It may seem silly to be stuck on a word, yet, that one word ignites much - "racism" "the race card" "race relations." We Christians would do well without it. One day, every tongue, TRIBE, and nation will bow down to the Creator of us all!

Back to Normal - SWEET!

I'd like to say that this was a typical service. I knew we'd have a lot of our regulars *back* from the holidays, but to have SEVENTY regulars - wow, that was awesome! I think we only had 5 first time visitors. Not that we don't want visitors, it's just that, I always wondered if all the regulars came at one time, would we have a decent crowd? We did, and it was so nice. We also had our largest offering. It definitely got us excited about what the new year could hold for us!

This past week, we read a full-page ad about a new church coming to our community! I'll be honest, my 1st reaction was, "uh, we don't need another church plant" lol. BUT, after I expunged that out of my brain, I realized how nice this might be. Our church neither has the funds nor enough people to do a major event in our community that *truly* draws people to Jesus. In our former church/town, we used to work with other churches to do a major outreach and really saw some fruit from it. So far, the other tiny churches in this community want to do NOTHING. Well, this new advertised church is touting themselves as a "mega-church" or I guess, a mega-church wannabe. A friend and church member of ours was talking to me about all of her fears with this new mega-church. I think a church 45 min. away is going to send 100 people to startup this church. Yeah, 100 is a lot of people, lol - for our area! But, I told her, this new church will NOT hurt us!! It can only help us.

First, if their focus are churched people - our focus is on people who DON'T attend church, so no big deal, there. If their focus is on unchurched people - hey there are soo many out there - they'll just stir things up and we'll still get benefit! Plus, this new pastor team might want to work with us on a community event, and that's JUST what we've been wanting. Afterall, who cares if we join together for this event, and no one attends our church? At least we've been a part of bringing people into God's kingdom!! Whew, that's what our goal is in the FIRST place! When I thought about that, it got me excited. It's kind of like "ooh, these are the neighbors who'll move in and have the same mindset we do!" I'd be crazy to think "what if these neighbors take all of my friends?" LOL.

So, it would be nice if every Sunday were like this one. But, not to my husband. His goals are much higher. I'm a manager (I love taking care of details and I'll maintain). He's not - he's a dreamer!

Christmas Eve service and New Year's Eve service...

Our first ever, Christmas Eve service was very nice. I was pleasantly surprised that 46 came out. We sang Christmas songs, some hymns, read the entire Christmas story from Scripture (volunteers from the congregation read different portions). We had communion and then, we lit candles. Oh, we *did* do a funny rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, too. That was fun!

The next week, we had a New Year's Eve service at 8pm. We knew there'd be less people. I think we had 30 or something like that. The service was short but sweet. Dh preached and we sang a couple of songs. Afterwards, we ate snacks and the kids and guys played arena football in the gymnasium. They had a blast! We watched them until midnight and we did the countdown. It was a very relaxed evening, and enjoyable to just hang out. I wasn't looking forward to *this* service. Deep down, I just wanted to stay home with one other family. But, this turned out very nice. I was glad we did it.

We'll be back to norm, this Sunday. It's going to feel weird after not seeing so many regulars the past 2 weeks!