A Brief Thought on How We Should Respond

If my wife were to tell me that she doesn't feel loved by me, my response ought not to be to share anecdotal and empirical evidence with her, excusing my actions and thereby disproving the validity of her perception. To even attempt to do this is to actually verify that her perception, as it turns out, was accurate. Rather, my duty in such a situation is to listen to her concerns and work my hardest from this point forward to demonstrate my love to her in such a way that she might indeed know that it is real.

When my African American brothers and sisters (who I claim to love) tell me that they feel marginalized, oppressed, devalued and threatened by the larger culture of which I am a part, in the same way, it ought not to be my response to share anecdotal and empirical evidence with them, excusing our actions and thereby disproving the validity of their perception.  Rather, my duty in such a situation is to listen to their concerns and work my hardest from this point forward to demonstrate my love to them in such a way that they might indeed know that it is real.

Video Available for Race & the Christian

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, John Piper, Tim Keller and Anthony Bradley got together last Wednesday to discuss the topic of Race & the Christian. Each of the three men spoke for approximately 20-25 minutes followed by a Q&A session.

If you were unable to catch this important discussion via the live stream last Wednesday, or if you did and you'd like to watch it again, Desiring God has made the videos available online. To watch them, you can either go to their website, or simply watch them embedded below.

Piper, Keller and Bradley Discuss Race & the Christian

The February 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida has brought the topic of race to the forefront of our collective consciousness. Next Wednesday (March 28) from 7-9pm (EDT), fellow Covenant Theological Seminary alumnus Anthony Bradley will moderate an important discussion with John Piper and Tim Keller on the topic of Race & the Christian. The event will be live-streamed for free at Desiring God and I encourage you to check it out. If you have questions you would like to submit, you can email them to raceandthechristian@redeemer.com.

In the words of Piper, "This is not a social issue. It is a blood issue." Here is a video invitation from him:


Invitation to Piper and Keller on Race & the Christian from Desiring God on Vimeo.

This event will be sponsored by Crossway and hosted by the Grace and Race Team at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Free Download of Piper's Bloodlines

You may recall a couple months ago I posted a video related to John Piper's book Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian, which tells the story of his personal journey from racism to the path of redemption. I just saw that Desiring God is making the book available for free download in PDF form. Click here to take advantage of this wonderful offer.

I have once again embedded the video below. If you have not yet seen it, please set aside 17-18 minutes to do so.


Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian

Last month, Crossway Publishing released John Piper's most recent book, Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian. Below is a related video documentary featuring Piper as he discusses his personal history of growing up in the segregated South. In it we clearly see the transforming power of the gospel and the beauty of racial diversity and harmony in Christ.

It's a little longer than most videos I post, but please take the time to watch it. I promise, it will be 17 or 18 minutes very well spent.



Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.