{"id":300829,"date":"2005-02-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-02-17T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/gods-thoughts\/"},"modified":"2024-10-07T22:41:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T02:41:59","slug":"gods-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/gods-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"God&#8217;s Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bryan Loritts talks about the need for racial reconciliation in the Body of Christ today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2005-02-17.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"11.41M","filesize_raw":"11964816","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2848],"tags":[4369,4299],"podcast_series":[7357],"cwp_profile":[8819],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-300829","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-issues","tag-church","tag-faith","podcast_series-racing-towards-racial-reconciliation","cwp_profile-bryan-loritts","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/300829\/gods-thoughts","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/300829\/gods-thoughts","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"RXRmR7cD5B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/gods-thoughts\/\">God&#8217;s Thoughts<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/gods-thoughts\/embed\/#?secret=RXRmR7cD5B\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;God&#8217;s Thoughts&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"RXRmR7cD5B\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"spectra_custom_meta":{"_wp_page_template":["default"],"transcript_url":["https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2005-02-17.pdf"],"audio_file":["https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2005-02-17.mp3"],"transcript_content":["<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Is the issue of racial reconciliation something that concerns you?\u00a0 Do you think it's something that concerns God?\u00a0 Here's Bryan Loritts.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBryan:\u00a0God is looking for an army of people whose hearts are geared towards and pointed towards and aimed towards God \u2013 people who believe God and want nothing more than God and His purposes here on earth.\u00a0 That's why you've got to ask yourself \u2013 if racial reconciliation is nowhere on the radar screen of your heart, then I've got a question \u2013 is your heart really pointed towards God?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, February 17th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 Is there anything you can do to join with God in the mission of racial reconciliation?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.\u00a0 We're going to tackle a challenge subject today, but it's a subject that we ought to be paying attention to.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0A little thorny.\u00a0 We're going to talk about racial issues.\u00a0 You know, the Bible talks a great deal about racism.\u00a0 In fact, it was Peter who had to deal with his own racial prejudice in Acts, chapter 10, when he had been called to go preach to the Gentiles, and he just wasn't quite sure whether or not that came from God or not, and so God gave him a dream and lowered a celestial picnic into his lap one day, and as he unfolded that picnic blanket, there were all kinds of foods that Peter had been told he was supposed to avoid, as a Jew.\u00a0 And God declared it clean.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Yes, Peter said, \"I won't eat any of this, Lord, because it's unclean,\" and God kind of scolded him and said, \"Don't you call unclean what I call clean.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0That's right.\u00a0 So Peter ended up getting his marching orders.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0He got the message, didn't he?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0He was supposed to preach to the Gentiles and take the message of the Jewish Messiah beyond the Jewish community to those that were, frankly, he had a bit of a racial prejudice against.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0And that story from Acts, chapter 10, is something that Paul addresses later in Ephesians 2.\u00a0 He says that Jesus Christ is our peace.\u00a0 He is the one who has torn down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, between Greek and slave.\u00a0 He really makes it clear that in Christ there is to be no racial division.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0That's right, and to explain this even further in terms of racial prejudice and help all of us be able to love and live with one another in a godly fashion, we have invited a young man, in fact, a friend of mine \u2013 Brian Loritts \u2013 to share a message with you that he gave a number of months ago.\u00a0 Brian is a pastor, a teaching pastor, at Fellowship Bible Church in Memphis, Tennessee.\u00a0 He and his Cory live there and helped start that church.\u00a0 I'm in a mentoring relationship with Brian and a couple of other men.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You've spent a lot of hours on the phone talking with Brian, haven't you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Brian is a good man and you know what?\u00a0 He is one of those young men who give you hope that the church is going to be in good hands for the next generation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Some of our listeners know Brian's dad, Crawford Loritts, who has been on FamilyLife Today and who has a daily radio program called \"Living a Legacy,\" that's heard on many of these same stations.\u00a0 And if they have appreciated Crawford's ministry, they are going to appreciate \u2013 well \u2013 the acorn didn't fall far from the tree.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I was thinking that same thing, Bob.\u00a0 Let's listen to Brian Loritts.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBrian:\u00a0In the autumn of 1959, a man by the name of John Howard Griffin had decided he had had enough.\u00a0 He had spent his life hearing about and reading about the so-called plight of the black man in the South and all of his abuses and all of the negativity and all of the things that he had gone through.\u00a0 And yet, as a white man, he had also heard from his white associates and friends that what the black man was going through was exaggerated.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHaving had enough, in the fall of 1959, John Howard Griffin decided that he had to experience, firsthand, the plight of the black man in the South.\u00a0 And so John Howard Griffin, a white man, went on what he called \"his great experiment.\"\u00a0 He did research and sought out a top-notch dermatologist, and he took medication that literally turned his skin dark.\u00a0 To expedite the process, this man, John Howard Griffin, submitted himself to dangerous ultraviolet rays that would expedite the process.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThoroughly convinced that he could now pass for being black \u2013 he even went so far as to shave his head \u2013 John Howard Griffin, in the fall of 1959, hopped in his little car, waved goodbye to his white wife and his four kids, and over the next four months traveled as a black man through the South.\u00a0 And it became real clear, real fast, that no one was going to mistake him for being white.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOver the next several months, he would write, in detailed fashion, of his experiences in a book entitled, \"Black Like Me.\"\u00a0 There is a book that, to date, has sold over 10 million copies.\u00a0 If you have not read it, you need to read it.\u00a0 And when that book was released in 1961, he did not realize the cost he would personally have to pay.\u00a0 In his hometown of Mansfield, Texas, his white brothers and sisters fashioned a dummy, supposedly in his likeness, and painted it sarcastically half black and half white and put a yellow streak down the back of it and hung him, in John Howard Griffin's own words, \"in effigy in the middle of town.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe white KKK, as if I need to put the \"white\" adjective there, as if there's a black chapter of the KKK \u2013 but the KKK in this town burned a cross, because of him, in the Negro elementary school.\u00a0 They threatened to castrate him.\u00a0 They threatened to kill him.\u00a0 And he and his family literally had to move out of the country for a time because he dared to make a hard choice to venture outside of his comfort zone.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe flip side of that was that there was a great reward.\u00a0 After Americans, at that time, could not believe that a white man would go to such extremes merely to identify with them, and so when he came back, he was embraced and accepted by the black community with open arms.\u00a0 He was befriended by such people as Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights activist, Dick Gregory.\u00a0 He was invited to speak at civil rights rallies.\u00a0 He was invited to speak at forums all over the world and to champion the cause of what he would later on call his life's mission and vocation \u2013 \"racial reconciliation.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAll of this because a white man in 1959 dared to take the bold, decisive, intentional step of venturing out of what was safe, comfortable, and normal, and to do something radical.\u00a0 As we come to our text tonight, we're going to zoom in on one man \u2013 I'm struggling tonight, because I feel as if I'm failing this homiletically.\u00a0 I wish I could deal with so much in this text.\u00a0 I only have time to deal with one man.\u00a0 His name is Peter, and I want us to look at Peter because, as we study Peter's life, we see a man who takes some bold, decisive steps, and that God is going to use as an instrument of racial reconciliation.\u00a0 I want us to zoom in on Peter's life.\u00a0 I want us to look at some character traits, some qualifications that Peter had, because it's going to help us, and I want to talk from the subject tonight \u2013 the profile of a racial reconciler.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou need to understand that as Luke is writing the Book of Acts, he is writing to a gentleman by the name of Theophalus.\u00a0 Most scholars agree that Theophalus is, a, a Gentile; b, who probably does not know Christ; and, c, is somewhat of a patron of Luke's.\u00a0 This would make sense, because Theophalus has probably commissioned Luke to give him an account as to this new thing called \"Christianity.\"\u00a0 He's curious.\u00a0 And as you read the books of Luke in Acts, they have a distinctive Gentile aroma and flavor to them, for Luke is giving an account of the work of the Spirit specifically among Gentiles, to his patron Gentile, Theophalus.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs he sits now to write what scholars have called in Acts, chapter 10, the \"Gentile Pentecost.\"\u00a0 Let me explain that.\u00a0 Acts, chapter 2, there is something called the \"Jewish Pentecost.\"\u00a0 On the day of Pentecost, Jews are in town to celebrate this festival, and Peter stands up, preaches the Word of God after the Spirit has fallen upon them, and 3,000 people come to know the Lord.\u00a0 That is, of course, called the Jewish Pentecost, but scholars call Acts, chapter 10, the \"Gentile Pentecost,\" because of its similarities to Acts, chapter 2.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPeter speaks, the Holy Spirit is poured out, people get saved.\u00a0 These people, though, are Gentiles.\u00a0 It's what's called the \"Gentile Pentecost.\"\u00a0 And as our text opens up, Peter introduces to Theophalus a man by the name of Cornelius.\u00a0 I wish I had time to get in this.\u00a0 I could really preach a three or four-week sermon on this.\u00a0 Cornelius \u2013 I don't have time \u2013 Cornelius is described as a God-fearer.\u00a0 Now, whenever you see the word, \"God-fearer\" you need to understand it is a Gentile who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph.\u00a0 It is a guy who worships and subscribes to Judaism \u2013 he's a God-fearer.\u00a0 It's different from a proselyte.\u00a0 Cornelius is a God-fearer not a proselyte.\u00a0 A proselyte is kind of your first-class section of Gentiles who worship God, for these were brothers who went so far as to be circumcised.\u00a0 Cornelius is, like, I'm not on that page just yet.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe's a God-fearer.\u00a0 He prays.\u00a0 He gives.\u00a0 He's a righteous man, and the text says that as he goes up to pray at 3:00 in the afternoon, which parenthetically was a time in which Jews prayed, which shows you that Cornelius proscribes to Judaism.\u00a0 An angel shows up and gives him a vision.\u00a0 It is a vision telling him to send men to go get a man by the name of Simon, who was also called Peter.\u00a0 Cornelius is obedient.\u00a0 He sends men to go get Simon who was also called Peter.\u00a0 The next day \u2013 look at verse 9.\u00a0 About noon the following day, Luke writes to Theophalus \u2013 \"As they\" \u2013 the people Cornelius sent \u2013 \"were on their journey and approaching the city\" \u2013 watch this now \u2013 \"Peter went up to the roof to pray.\"\u00a0 Peter was a godly man.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe first characteristic of the profile of a racial reconciler is that first, foremost, above everything else, they are godly people.\u00a0 They are people whose hearts are directed towards and pointed towards and aimed at God.\u00a0 They are people who, at the end of the day, want nothing more than to want God more than anything else.\u00a0 They are godly people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt's important for you to understand that, as simplistic as that may sound, because what we are endeavoring to do racial reconciliation, let me state the obvious \u2013 it's a hard thing.\u00a0 Racism is so embedded and ingrained and woven into the fabric of our nation, it's amazing, as you study the history about the same time the Pilgrims came, they were bringing slaves with them around the same time.\u00a0 It's just a part of who this country is.\u00a0 It's a part of our DNA, and it is so ingrained, and the walls have been erected so high, and they are so old, and they are so archaic, that for us to think that we can just come along and sing \"Kumbaya\" with black folk and white folk, and it's all good and it, and it's going to be great is not only na\u00efve, it's foolish.\u00a0 What we are endeavoring to do is so utterly beyond us, that it cannot take anything that we can do in our own strength to make it happen.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe great downfall of the Civil Rights Movement, and I praise God for Dr. King and those guys.\u00a0 I can now sit anywhere I want to on the bus, I can now go to any hotel I want, and I praise God for that, but the downfall is, and Dr. King knew this, the only thing he was doing was changing laws.\u00a0 Racial reconciliation is about hearts, and the only thing that can touch the heart is the precious blood of Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGod is looking for an army of people whose hearts are geared towards and pointed towards and aimed towards God \u2013 people who believe God and want nothing more than God and His purposes here on earth, and that's why you've got to ask yourself if racial reconciliation is nowhere on the radar for you \u2013 and I want to be careful with that, because we all have different passions.\u00a0 We all have different things, as my dad says, that makes us pound the table and weep.\u00a0 But if racial reconciliation is nowhere on the radar screen of your heart, then I've got a question \u2013 is your heart really pointed towards God?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt beings with godly people \u2013 watch this \u2013 not perfect people, godly people \u2013 not perfect, godly.\u00a0 If you study the life of Peter, you understand very quickly, Peter was not a perfect person.\u00a0 He was always inserting his foot into his mouth.\u00a0 He was impulsive, he was speaking when he shouldn't have spoke, he was saying foolish things.\u00a0 On top of that, he committed almost the cardinal sin of denying Jesus Christ and abandoning Him at His greatest hour of need.\u00a0 In fact, the text tells us that when one person said, \"Peter, didn't I see you with Jesus?\"\u00a0 That Peter hollered out cursing at these people \u2013 \"I blankety-blank-blank told you I wasn't with the man, now leave me alone.\"\u00a0 He was imperfect, and if you could add to his imperfections, and, I promise you, what I'm about to say you did not learn in Sunday school, but if you could add to his imperfections this one trait, Peter is a racist.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhew, I didn't learn that one in Sunday school.\u00a0 They didn't put that one on the flannel board.\u00a0 Where did you get that from, Brian?\u00a0 Of course, I can't make a statement like that without explaining it, now can I?\u00a0 Look at verse 28, I want to show you Peter's racism here.\u00a0 Peter gets to the house of Cornelius and in verse 28 the text says this \u2013 he comes into the house, and Peter comes in and says, \"Hey, I want you fellows to know that you are well aware that it is against\" \u2013 then underline this phrase \u2013 \"against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I know what some of you are saying, \"Now, Brian, how can you accuse Peter of racism when he says, \"Look, it's against our law.\"\u00a0 Well, this is a poor translation because, as Luke is writing, he is writing in Greek, and the normal Greek word for \"law\" has to do with the Greek word \"nomos,\" which speaks of an objective standards of do's and don't's, like the Mosaic law.\u00a0 That's not the word he uses here.\u00a0 He uses the Greek word ahffematos [sp], ahffematos, ahffematos \u2013 it is a Greek word.\u00a0 Ahffematos speaks of culture, and \"ah\" is a prefix which means \"against.\"\u00a0 So, literally, this word means \"against one's culture.\"\u00a0 Peter walks in and says, \"Look, boys, I want you to understand that this is against how I was raised.\u00a0 Jews didn't hang out with Gentiles.\u00a0 We didn't go to dinner with you all, we didn't play in the same leagues as you all, our kids weren't allowed to date your kids, the way I was raised, the very fact that I'm here, it's against my culture.\"\u00a0 In fact, the text is very clear \u2013 Peter is wondering why God would lead him there, because it is against the way he was raised.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI'm not saying Peter was burning crosses in people's yards; it's more of a passive racism.\u00a0 They do their thing, we do our thing, but if you study the Jew's relationship to the Gentiles, it was more than an \"us versus them.\"\u00a0 It was the Jews here looking down on the Gentiles as being common \u2013 what they would call \"goyim,\" or \"dogs.\"\u00a0 Peter says, \"Look, Cornelius, I want you to know this goes against how I'm wired culturally.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd that's what I want you to see.\u00a0 It is so magnificently paradoxical that God would take an imperfect, rehabilitating racist to take the message of reconciliation to the Gentiles.\u00a0 Isn't it just like God to take the least likely of candidates and say, \"I know, Peter, you struggle with racism, but I am going to use you to take the message of Jesus Christ to people you wouldn't even spit on years before.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSome of you are saying, \"Brian, this mission of racial reconciliation, this mission is so incredibly hard, it is so beyond me, and you're saying, Brian, if you only knew the stuff that I've done in my life.\u00a0 If you only knew the way that I felt like black folk or as black folk if you only knew the way that I felt about white folks.\u00a0 Can God use me, Brian?\u00a0 The sins that I've committed, and the things that I've done?\"\u00a0 Well, friends, as I study Scripture, it is more than normative that God takes the least likely of candidates to accomplish and implement His purposes here on earth.\u00a0 He took a murdered named Moses and used him to liberate the nation of Israel.\u00a0 He took a whore named Rahab and used her to help bring down the nation of Jericho.\u00a0 He took an adulterer named David and used him to lead his people, and he took a racist named Peter to bring the message of Jesus Christ and salvation to a group he couldn't stand previously.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo look at my own life, friends.\u00a0 I am amazed that God uses me.\u00a0 The things I've done in my past, and the attitudes that I've held, the things I've been caught up in, some stuff only my wife and I would know about, and I'll take it to the grave, and the very fact that God uses me blows my mind.\u00a0 Friends, in general, God says \"I have some things, I have an assignment on your life,\" and no matter what you've been caught up in, no matter what you've done, no matter what sins you've been entangled in, no matter what addictions you've had, God's specializes in using sin-stained, filthy Christians who accomplish His purposes here on earth.\u00a0 That's the message.\u00a0 He uses a racist named Peter as an instrument of reconciliation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0That is Brian Loritts reminding us that God is pleased to use imperfect people to accomplish His perfect purposes.\u00a0 I've heard you express it by saying that God draws straight lines with crooked sticks.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Yes, Bob, that was first said here on FamilyLife Today by Dr. Carl Weiner [sp], who is a surgeon here in Little Rock.\u00a0 He was just marveling at how God uses broken people, imperfect people, to accomplish His purposes.\u00a0 And, you know, I think, as Christians, our responsibility today is to make sure we're passing on to the next generation the mandate that we are to be lovers of all people, and our children need to see us doing that, and then they need to be instructed in how to be reconcilers with people of other races.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0It's something that needs to be taught, it's something that needs to be modeled, and it's something, I think, all of us need to wrestle with.\u00a0 I think we need to go before the Lord and, as we often do, with hidden sin in our lives.\u00a0 We say, \"Lord, search me, try me, know me, see if there be any wicked way in me.\"\u00a0 David prayed that in the Psalms, and I think in the case of racial reconciliation, I think it's good for us to say, \"Lord, search me, try me, see if there is prejudice that I'm not aware of in my heart.\u00a0 Reveal it to me, because it does not please the heart of God when we look at His creation and think less of another human than we ought to think.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I think back to an interview we did about a year ago with Dolphus Weary, where he shared his story of experiencing racial prejudice, and just hearing his story was helpful for me to look in my own heart and say, \"Are there seeds there that I am not even fully aware of?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0We've go the CD of our interview with Dolphus.\u00a0 It's another program that will help you really consider these issues and, of course, if you want to get a copy of Brian's CD, we've got it in our FamilyLife Resource Center as well.\u00a0 And Brian has just written a new book called \"God On Paper.\"\u00a0 It's all about the Bible \u2013 the wildest story of passion and pursuit that you'll ever read.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0If you're interested in getting any of these resources, go to our Website, FamilyLife.com, click the button at the bottom of the screen that says, \"Go,\" and it will take you right to a section of the Web where you can review these resources and order online, if you'd like.\u00a0 Or call 1-800-FLTODAY \u2013 someone on the team can take care of your order or answer any questions you have about any of the resources we have on this subject.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Tomorrow we are going to be back to hear more from Brian Loritts on the subject of racial reconciliation and, more specifically, to hear about some things we can all be doing to make a difference.\u00a0 I hope you can be with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t_______________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would\u00a0\u00a0 you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.FamilyLife.com\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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Loritts talks about the need for racial reconciliation in the Body of Christ today.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2005-02-17.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Is the issue of racial reconciliation something that concerns you?\u00a0 Do you think it's something that concerns God?\u00a0 Here's Bryan Loritts.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBryan:\u00a0God is looking for an army of people whose hearts are geared towards and pointed towards and aimed towards God \u2013 people who believe God and want nothing more than God and His purposes here on earth.\u00a0 That's why you've got to ask yourself \u2013 if racial reconciliation is nowhere on the radar screen of your heart, then I've got a question \u2013 is your heart really pointed towards God?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, February 17th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 Is there anything you can do to join with God in the mission of racial reconciliation?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.\u00a0 We're going to tackle a challenge subject today, but it's a subject that we ought to be paying attention to.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0A little thorny.\u00a0 We're going to talk about racial issues.\u00a0 You know, the Bible talks a great deal about racism.\u00a0 In fact, it was Peter who had to deal with his own racial prejudice in Acts, chapter 10, when he had been called to go preach to the Gentiles, and he just wasn't quite sure whether or not that came from God or not, and so God gave him a dream and lowered a celestial picnic into his lap one day, and as he unfolded that picnic blanket, there were all kinds of foods that Peter had been told he was supposed to avoid, as a Jew.\u00a0 And God declared it clean.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Yes, Peter said, \"I won't eat any of this, Lord, because it's unclean,\" and God kind of scolded him and said, \"Don't you call unclean what I call clean.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0That's right.\u00a0 So Peter ended up getting his marching orders.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0He got the message, didn't he?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0He was supposed to preach to the Gentiles and take the message of the Jewish Messiah beyond the Jewish community to those that were, frankly, he had a bit of a racial prejudice against.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0And that story from Acts, chapter 10, is something that Paul addresses later in Ephesians 2.\u00a0 He says that Jesus Christ is our peace.\u00a0 He is the one who has torn down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, between Greek and slave.\u00a0 He really makes it clear that in Christ there is to be no racial division.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0That's right, and to explain this even further in terms of racial prejudice and help all of us be able to love and live with one another in a godly fashion, we have invited a young man, in fact, a friend of mine \u2013 Brian Loritts \u2013 to share a message with you that he gave a number of months ago.\u00a0 Brian is a pastor, a teaching pastor, at Fellowship Bible Church in Memphis, Tennessee.\u00a0 He and his Cory live there and helped start that church.\u00a0 I'm in a mentoring relationship with Brian and a couple of other men.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You've spent a lot of hours on the phone talking with Brian, haven't you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Brian is a good man and you know what?\u00a0 He is one of those young men who give you hope that the church is going to be in good hands for the next generation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Some of our listeners know Brian's dad, Crawford Loritts, who has been on FamilyLife Today and who has a daily radio program called \"Living a Legacy,\" that's heard on many of these same stations.\u00a0 And if they have appreciated Crawford's ministry, they are going to appreciate \u2013 well \u2013 the acorn didn't fall far from the tree.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I was thinking that same thing, Bob.\u00a0 Let's listen to Brian Loritts.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBrian:\u00a0In the autumn of 1959, a man by the name of John Howard Griffin had decided he had had enough.\u00a0 He had spent his life hearing about and reading about the so-called plight of the black man in the South and all of his abuses and all of the negativity and all of the things that he had gone through.\u00a0 And yet, as a white man, he had also heard from his white associates and friends that what the black man was going through was exaggerated.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHaving had enough, in the fall of 1959, John Howard Griffin decided that he had to experience, firsthand, the plight of the black man in the South.\u00a0 And so John Howard Griffin, a white man, went on what he called \"his great experiment.\"\u00a0 He did research and sought out a top-notch dermatologist, and he took medication that literally turned his skin dark.\u00a0 To expedite the process, this man, John Howard Griffin, submitted himself to dangerous ultraviolet rays that would expedite the process.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThoroughly convinced that he could now pass for being black \u2013 he even went so far as to shave his head \u2013 John Howard Griffin, in the fall of 1959, hopped in his little car, waved goodbye to his white wife and his four kids, and over the next four months traveled as a black man through the South.\u00a0 And it became real clear, real fast, that no one was going to mistake him for being white.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOver the next several months, he would write, in detailed fashion, of his experiences in a book entitled, \"Black Like Me.\"\u00a0 There is a book that, to date, has sold over 10 million copies.\u00a0 If you have not read it, you need to read it.\u00a0 And when that book was released in 1961, he did not realize the cost he would personally have to pay.\u00a0 In his hometown of Mansfield, Texas, his white brothers and sisters fashioned a dummy, supposedly in his likeness, and painted it sarcastically half black and half white and put a yellow streak down the back of it and hung him, in John Howard Griffin's own words, \"in effigy in the middle of town.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe white KKK, as if I need to put the \"white\" adjective there, as if there's a black chapter of the KKK \u2013 but the KKK in this town burned a cross, because of him, in the Negro elementary school.\u00a0 They threatened to castrate him.\u00a0 They threatened to kill him.\u00a0 And he and his family literally had to move out of the country for a time because he dared to make a hard choice to venture outside of his comfort zone.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe flip side of that was that there was a great reward.\u00a0 After Americans, at that time, could not believe that a white man would go to such extremes merely to identify with them, and so when he came back, he was embraced and accepted by the black community with open arms.\u00a0 He was befriended by such people as Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights activist, Dick Gregory.\u00a0 He was invited to speak at civil rights rallies.\u00a0 He was invited to speak at forums all over the world and to champion the cause of what he would later on call his life's mission and vocation \u2013 \"racial reconciliation.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAll of this because a white man in 1959 dared to take the bold, decisive, intentional step of venturing out of what was safe, comfortable, and normal, and to do something radical.\u00a0 As we come to our text tonight, we're going to zoom in on one man \u2013 I'm struggling tonight, because I feel as if I'm failing this homiletically.\u00a0 I wish I could deal with so much in this text.\u00a0 I only have time to deal with one man.\u00a0 His name is Peter, and I want us to look at Peter because, as we study Peter's life, we see a man who takes some bold, decisive steps, and that God is going to use as an instrument of racial reconciliation.\u00a0 I want us to zoom in on Peter's life.\u00a0 I want us to look at some character traits, some qualifications that Peter had, because it's going to help us, and I want to talk from the subject tonight \u2013 the profile of a racial reconciler.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou need to understand that as Luke is writing the Book of Acts, he is writing to a gentleman by the name of Theophalus.\u00a0 Most scholars agree that Theophalus is, a, a Gentile; b, who probably does not know Christ; and, c, is somewhat of a patron of Luke's.\u00a0 This would make sense, because Theophalus has probably commissioned Luke to give him an account as to this new thing called \"Christianity.\"\u00a0 He's curious.\u00a0 And as you read the books of Luke in Acts, they have a distinctive Gentile aroma and flavor to them, for Luke is giving an account of the work of the Spirit specifically among Gentiles, to his patron Gentile, Theophalus.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs he sits now to write what scholars have called in Acts, chapter 10, the \"Gentile Pentecost.\"\u00a0 Let me explain that.\u00a0 Acts, chapter 2, there is something called the \"Jewish Pentecost.\"\u00a0 On the day of Pentecost, Jews are in town to celebrate this festival, and Peter stands up, preaches the Word of God after the Spirit has fallen upon them, and 3,000 people come to know the Lord.\u00a0 That is, of course, called the Jewish Pentecost, but scholars call Acts, chapter 10, the \"Gentile Pentecost,\" because of its similarities to Acts, chapter 2.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPeter speaks, the Holy Spirit is poured out, people get saved.\u00a0 These people, though, are Gentiles.\u00a0 It's what's called the \"Gentile Pentecost.\"\u00a0 And as our text opens up, Peter introduces to Theophalus a man by the name of Cornelius.\u00a0 I wish I had time to get in this.\u00a0 I could really preach a three or four-week sermon on this.\u00a0 Cornelius \u2013 I don't have time \u2013 Cornelius is described as a God-fearer.\u00a0 Now, whenever you see the word, \"God-fearer\" you need to understand it is a Gentile who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph.\u00a0 It is a guy who worships and subscribes to Judaism \u2013 he's a God-fearer.\u00a0 It's different from a proselyte.\u00a0 Cornelius is a God-fearer not a proselyte.\u00a0 A proselyte is kind of your first-class section of Gentiles who worship God, for these were brothers who went so far as to be circumcised.\u00a0 Cornelius is, like, I'm not on that page just yet.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe's a God-fearer.\u00a0 He prays.\u00a0 He gives.\u00a0 He's a righteous man, and the text says that as he goes up to pray at 3:00 in the afternoon, which parenthetically was a time in which Jews prayed, which shows you that Cornelius proscribes to Judaism.\u00a0 An angel shows up and gives him a vision.\u00a0 It is a vision telling him to send men to go get a man by the name of Simon, who was also called Peter.\u00a0 Cornelius is obedient.\u00a0 He sends men to go get Simon who was also called Peter.\u00a0 The next day \u2013 look at verse 9.\u00a0 About noon the following day, Luke writes to Theophalus \u2013 \"As they\" \u2013 the people Cornelius sent \u2013 \"were on their journey and approaching the city\" \u2013 watch this now \u2013 \"Peter went up to the roof to pray.\"\u00a0 Peter was a godly man.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe first characteristic of the profile of a racial reconciler is that first, foremost, above everything else, they are godly people.\u00a0 They are people whose hearts are directed towards and pointed towards and aimed at God.\u00a0 They are people who, at the end of the day, want nothing more than to want God more than anything else.\u00a0 They are godly people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt's important for you to understand that, as simplistic as that may sound, because what we are endeavoring to do racial reconciliation, let me state the obvious \u2013 it's a hard thing.\u00a0 Racism is so embedded and ingrained and woven into the fabric of our nation, it's amazing, as you study the history about the same time the Pilgrims came, they were bringing slaves with them around the same time.\u00a0 It's just a part of who this country is.\u00a0 It's a part of our DNA, and it is so ingrained, and the walls have been erected so high, and they are so old, and they are so archaic, that for us to think that we can just come along and sing \"Kumbaya\" with black folk and white folk, and it's all good and it, and it's going to be great is not only na\u00efve, it's foolish.\u00a0 What we are endeavoring to do is so utterly beyond us, that it cannot take anything that we can do in our own strength to make it happen.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe great downfall of the Civil Rights Movement, and I praise God for Dr. King and those guys.\u00a0 I can now sit anywhere I want to on the bus, I can now go to any hotel I want, and I praise God for that, but the downfall is, and Dr. King knew this, the only thing he was doing was changing laws.\u00a0 Racial reconciliation is about hearts, and the only thing that can touch the heart is the precious blood of Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGod is looking for an army of people whose hearts are geared towards and pointed towards and aimed towards God \u2013 people who believe God and want nothing more than God and His purposes here on earth, and that's why you've got to ask yourself if racial reconciliation is nowhere on the radar for you \u2013 and I want to be careful with that, because we all have different passions.\u00a0 We all have different things, as my dad says, that makes us pound the table and weep.\u00a0 But if racial reconciliation is nowhere on the radar screen of your heart, then I've got a question \u2013 is your heart really pointed towards God?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt beings with godly people \u2013 watch this \u2013 not perfect people, godly people \u2013 not perfect, godly.\u00a0 If you study the life of Peter, you understand very quickly, Peter was not a perfect person.\u00a0 He was always inserting his foot into his mouth.\u00a0 He was impulsive, he was speaking when he shouldn't have spoke, he was saying foolish things.\u00a0 On top of that, he committed almost the cardinal sin of denying Jesus Christ and abandoning Him at His greatest hour of need.\u00a0 In fact, the text tells us that when one person said, \"Peter, didn't I see you with Jesus?\"\u00a0 That Peter hollered out cursing at these people \u2013 \"I blankety-blank-blank told you I wasn't with the man, now leave me alone.\"\u00a0 He was imperfect, and if you could add to his imperfections, and, I promise you, what I'm about to say you did not learn in Sunday school, but if you could add to his imperfections this one trait, Peter is a racist.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhew, I didn't learn that one in Sunday school.\u00a0 They didn't put that one on the flannel board.\u00a0 Where did you get that from, Brian?\u00a0 Of course, I can't make a statement like that without explaining it, now can I?\u00a0 Look at verse 28, I want to show you Peter's racism here.\u00a0 Peter gets to the house of Cornelius and in verse 28 the text says this \u2013 he comes into the house, and Peter comes in and says, \"Hey, I want you fellows to know that you are well aware that it is against\" \u2013 then underline this phrase \u2013 \"against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I know what some of you are saying, \"Now, Brian, how can you accuse Peter of racism when he says, \"Look, it's against our law.\"\u00a0 Well, this is a poor translation because, as Luke is writing, he is writing in Greek, and the normal Greek word for \"law\" has to do with the Greek word \"nomos,\" which speaks of an objective standards of do's and don't's, like the Mosaic law.\u00a0 That's not the word he uses here.\u00a0 He uses the Greek word ahffematos [sp], ahffematos, ahffematos \u2013 it is a Greek word.\u00a0 Ahffematos speaks of culture, and \"ah\" is a prefix which means \"against.\"\u00a0 So, literally, this word means \"against one's culture.\"\u00a0 Peter walks in and says, \"Look, boys, I want you to understand that this is against how I was raised.\u00a0 Jews didn't hang out with Gentiles.\u00a0 We didn't go to dinner with you all, we didn't play in the same leagues as you all, our kids weren't allowed to date your kids, the way I was raised, the very fact that I'm here, it's against my culture.\"\u00a0 In fact, the text is very clear \u2013 Peter is wondering why God would lead him there, because it is against the way he was raised.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI'm not saying Peter was burning crosses in people's yards; it's more of a passive racism.\u00a0 They do their thing, we do our thing, but if you study the Jew's relationship to the Gentiles, it was more than an \"us versus them.\"\u00a0 It was the Jews here looking down on the Gentiles as being common \u2013 what they would call \"goyim,\" or \"dogs.\"\u00a0 Peter says, \"Look, Cornelius, I want you to know this goes against how I'm wired culturally.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd that's what I want you to see.\u00a0 It is so magnificently paradoxical that God would take an imperfect, rehabilitating racist to take the message of reconciliation to the Gentiles.\u00a0 Isn't it just like God to take the least likely of candidates and say, \"I know, Peter, you struggle with racism, but I am going to use you to take the message of Jesus Christ to people you wouldn't even spit on years before.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSome of you are saying, \"Brian, this mission of racial reconciliation, this mission is so incredibly hard, it is so beyond me, and you're saying, Brian, if you only knew the stuff that I've done in my life.\u00a0 If you only knew the way that I felt like black folk or as black folk if you only knew the way that I felt about white folks.\u00a0 Can God use me, Brian?\u00a0 The sins that I've committed, and the things that I've done?\"\u00a0 Well, friends, as I study Scripture, it is more than normative that God takes the least likely of candidates to accomplish and implement His purposes here on earth.\u00a0 He took a murdered named Moses and used him to liberate the nation of Israel.\u00a0 He took a whore named Rahab and used her to help bring down the nation of Jericho.\u00a0 He took an adulterer named David and used him to lead his people, and he took a racist named Peter to bring the message of Jesus Christ and salvation to a group he couldn't stand previously.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo look at my own life, friends.\u00a0 I am amazed that God uses me.\u00a0 The things I've done in my past, and the attitudes that I've held, the things I've been caught up in, some stuff only my wife and I would know about, and I'll take it to the grave, and the very fact that God uses me blows my mind.\u00a0 Friends, in general, God says \"I have some things, I have an assignment on your life,\" and no matter what you've been caught up in, no matter what you've done, no matter what sins you've been entangled in, no matter what addictions you've had, God's specializes in using sin-stained, filthy Christians who accomplish His purposes here on earth.\u00a0 That's the message.\u00a0 He uses a racist named Peter as an instrument of reconciliation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0That is Brian Loritts reminding us that God is pleased to use imperfect people to accomplish His perfect purposes.\u00a0 I've heard you express it by saying that God draws straight lines with crooked sticks.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Yes, Bob, that was first said here on FamilyLife Today by Dr. Carl Weiner [sp], who is a surgeon here in Little Rock.\u00a0 He was just marveling at how God uses broken people, imperfect people, to accomplish His purposes.\u00a0 And, you know, I think, as Christians, our responsibility today is to make sure we're passing on to the next generation the mandate that we are to be lovers of all people, and our children need to see us doing that, and then they need to be instructed in how to be reconcilers with people of other races.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0It's something that needs to be taught, it's something that needs to be modeled, and it's something, I think, all of us need to wrestle with.\u00a0 I think we need to go before the Lord and, as we often do, with hidden sin in our lives.\u00a0 We say, \"Lord, search me, try me, know me, see if there be any wicked way in me.\"\u00a0 David prayed that in the Psalms, and I think in the case of racial reconciliation, I think it's good for us to say, \"Lord, search me, try me, see if there is prejudice that I'm not aware of in my heart.\u00a0 Reveal it to me, because it does not please the heart of God when we look at His creation and think less of another human than we ought to think.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I think back to an interview we did about a year ago with Dolphus Weary, where he shared his story of experiencing racial prejudice, and just hearing his story was helpful for me to look in my own heart and say, \"Are there seeds there that I am not even fully aware of?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0We've go the CD of our interview with Dolphus.\u00a0 It's another program that will help you really consider these issues and, of course, if you want to get a copy of Brian's CD, we've got it in our FamilyLife Resource Center as well.\u00a0 And Brian has just written a new book called \"God On Paper.\"\u00a0 It's all about the Bible \u2013 the wildest story of passion and pursuit that you'll ever read.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0If you're interested in getting any of these resources, go to our Website, FamilyLife.com, click the button at the bottom of the screen that says, \"Go,\" and it will take you right to a section of the Web where you can review these resources and order online, if you'd like.\u00a0 Or call 1-800-FLTODAY \u2013 someone on the team can take care of your order or answer any questions you have about any of the resources we have on this subject.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Tomorrow we are going to be back to hear more from Brian Loritts on the subject of racial reconciliation and, more specifically, to hear about some things we can all be doing to make a difference.\u00a0 I hope you can be with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t_______________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would\u00a0\u00a0 you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.FamilyLife.com\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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