Most of the people who come to our counselors at the Vineyard Counseling Center come with one fundamental problem, anxiety. This is because anxiety is an underlying component in almost every other diagnosis, symptom or mood disorder people have. The fact is, life can be very scary, and God has given us the capacity to feel anxiety to help protect ourselves when threats arise.
In 1 Corinthians 12:26 we read of the community of Christ: If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. In this moment, as the body of Christ, we suffer and lament together as we recognize more clearly and mourn the rise of antagonism toward and violence against members of the Asian community in the US. I know that many on our staff and in our church & community are impacted personally in myriad ways. Please, let’s take time as we enter into the weekend to check in on one-another, and on those we serve, and to make space for processing, listening, and care.
In recent weeks, two Black men have been shot and killed by law enforcement officers in our city. Andre Hill was shot within ten seconds of being approached in a friend’s garage by a Columbus police officer. He had been invited to his friend’s house that particular evening. No weapon was found at the scene.
E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for "Out of many, one", is the traditional motto of the United States before Congress adopted "In God we trust" as our official motto in 1956. The issue of creating unity out of diversity raises one of the most pressing questions facing the world today: How can we all get along? How do we in America and the West, with our histories of racial injustice and slavery bring native-born citizens together and also absorb millions of immigrants, many with cultures, customs, and languages very different from the people who historically settled our countries?
On the weekend of June 5, I preached a message titled "How Should the Evangelical Church Respond to the Murder of George Floyd?" If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to my message you can find it here. The response to this message was overwhelmingly positive. I received an enormous number of texts, emails and phone calls from church members, online viewers and pastors from around our nation thanking me for the message.
A few days after the murder of George Floyd, she said to me, “I feel like there’s this war within me. On the one hand, as a Christian woman, I want to love and forgive. On the other hand, I’m so angry right now. I have this battle raging inside of me.” Love versus anger. These words capture well the struggle many feel in this moment and moments like these.
En la capilla (Chapel) de la Iglesia Vineyard Columbus Estacionamiento Norte
Domingos a las 11am
