Suffering In the City of Indianapolis....
This is quite interesting......
A group of concerned pastors in Indianapolis, Indiana, wrote an "open letter to Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson" in response to the 14 murders in Marion County from August 1, 2006 to August 8, 2006 - all in a 1 week period! The letter was signed by Bishop T. Garret Benjamin Jr, Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, the Rev. Charles Harrison and other black pastors......The Open letter entitled: Treat Underlying Causes includes the following:
"the measures taken to date only affect the symptoms and not the cause of our current chaos"
"we are racially divided and social delivery poor. Our kids need mentoring, tutoring and social skills"
"our parents need training; black fathers need help; black children need to be empowered"
"we need recreation centers and after school education centers; anti-truancy, anti-drug and anti-teenage pregnancy programs"...
the list of ideas continues in the article......
Then, the article says "we are asking you to lead an initiative to raise a minimum of $25 million per year from public and private sources within the next 12 months to expand and strengthen existing social and community organizations as well as create new opportunities through faith based and other organizations to help turn our city around."
A short, editorial response a day or so later printed in the same paper from Scott Tibbs in Bloomington, Indiana, is an absolutely incredible and loving response to the Ministers: Ministers Look to Wrong Source for Solution.
Even non-Christians disagree with the approach - - Imam (an Arabic word meaning "Leader", in Islam) Muhammad Saddeeq said in a recent Indianapolis newspaper article, "the problem did not take place in the mayor's office.. and the solution will not be found there." Continuing - "we must do more than talk about the great works of Jesus, we must live those works as individuals and congregations daily in our blood-soaked communities;" Also, "Money is not the solution, Faith is the solution." Read Sadeeq's article: Lets Go Into Streets, Not Mayor's Office.
The pastor's respond back !!!! T. Garrott Benjamin Jr. (one of the pastors) responds on 1/9/07 with an article in the Indianapolis Star newspaper entitled - No world class city should have blood on its streets
Try as we might, the many ways known to man, the only true solution to a corrupt human heart is the saving Grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. When we, only by the grace of God, give our hearts wholeheartedly to Christ, God does the following:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27
So -- what do you think?
