I am asking special prayer for our youth and young adults. I was on the program yesterday at my church for the funeral of 17 year old, Rashad Massey who was killed senselessly on April 13th. Rashad accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior at age eight and attended Sunday school. We praise God that he knew the Lord! But so many of his peers haven't accepted Christ yet, and are getting caught up in the bogus lifestyles they see of television and are being used by Satan. My heart broke as I watched so many of them grieve the death of their classmate and friend. We as adults have to do more to protect and raise our children! We have to show them who Jesus is!
I know Rashad's mother personally. She has volunteered in the new member assimilation ministry at St. Stephen. I know her to be a God-fearing woman. Rahad's father was very grieved at his son's passing as we spoke several times before and after the funeral. So many of our youth's parents don't know the Lord! That's why this call for prayer and action is all the more urgent!! As the title of the following article implies, our children are our future. So, this story, which I have been following, on what several AME churches are doing to keep youth out of jail strikes a cord with me.
Scripture tells us our responsibility as parents, "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old, he will no depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Instead of examining ourselves in light of this verse, however, we love to quote the three preceding verses, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may go well with you and thou mayest live long on the earth" (Eph 6:1-3). Our children see us doing wrong. A "do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do" philosophy is not going to get it in the 21st century. Our youth are exposed to too much!
I don't pretend to know all the particulars in the Massey slaying. I am saying that two lives are lost, one to death and the other to prison. And as the young, guest preacher, Rev. Darryl Todd, Pastor, Spring Branch Missionary Baptist Church, Wagram, North Carolina, said in his eulogy based on the death of David and Bathsheba's son in 2 Samuel 12:15-ff, we have to get up, clean up, and go up to the church and worship!
I thank God that when we "go up to church" in Washington, D.C. there is a collective plan in place to protect our future and keep our youth out of jail!
Faith and our future: Churches partner to keep black youth off the streets, out of jail - Cover
Remember, it is not Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, nor New Age that saves. Jesus saves!
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I have read several comments from young people in the community following Rashad's passing onto the Lord.
ReplyDeleteI say that if you are truly tired of what is transpiring around you every day, then it's up to you to speak out about it, and start working for a better community. Or is that not cool?
I have boys growing up, and I know the pressure in this day and age is HUGE on young men and women. However, until you younger men and women decide that a future for yourself and your potential kids is more important than your "cred" or rep", then be used to the same tragedies and disappointments. I understand that's harsh, but I'm trying to convey a simple and relevant choice to maintain the status quo, or change your situation for the better.
Go to CHURCH! Get involved in your community through a church based service group! Be a role model for your peers and the kids that look up to you - especially if you have younger brothers and sisters. If you are from a bad situation without a support system, then seek out a mentor that you respect (coach, teacher, pastor) to guide you with your life and choices. Be accountable for yourself and your actions. Be determined to make the world around you a better place, and in the process you will be blessed 1000 times!
I challenge you to be great. I dare you to show the world your potential. Respect yourself and others. Love God and your family.
Blessings!