Kai Leigh Harriot's Grace

Did you miss the story about Kai Leigh Harriot? If so, then let me tell you.

When Kai Leigh Harriot was three years old, she was the victim of gun violence. As a result, the gunshot shattered her spinal cord before ripping through her chest. The gunshot left Kai paralyzed from the middle of the chest down.

Now five years old, Kai sits in a wheelchair that will be with her for the remainder of her life. She will never experience many of life’s little joys that so many of us take for granted on a daily basis.

Earlier this month she sat in the courtroom and faced the man who fired the gunshot into her little body. With profuse tears choking up her voice, she acknowledged that what the gunman did to her was wrong but then she said “But I still forgive him.”

Kai Leigh Harriot teaches us so much. She could have chosen to hate this man and curse him for this act of injustice he has afflicted her with but instead she chose to forgive this man. What a wonderful expression of grace!

If this little five year old child can have it in her heart to forgive someone for committing an egregious act of evil, why do so many of us struggle to forgive others who do wrong towards us?

Frustrated but Encouraged

I have been extremely busy as the school semester winds down. Between staying at home and being a Father to my daughter, attempting 9 semester hours, trying to locate a full-time ministry opportunity (this is my last semester in Memphis), and trying to remain involved ministry wise in the lives of some other people, I am frustrated but Encouraged.

Ever since becoming a Christian I have always wanted to help others come to know God. I know that even the best ministry context has its problems as well, but I am so tired of fighting ridiculous barriers that keep people from being open to God’s calling.

Why do Christians judge other people through human eyes? Why do Christians judge people by their skin color? By the way they dress? By their outward appearance? Why have Christians not learned to view people through the image they were created in? Through the baptism they could receive if they hear the gospel and see that very gospel lived out in the church’s life?

Why do we insist on having an unwritten dress code for church that tells the majority of our culture “Clean up and dress up if you wish to come hear!”

Why do we live in a culture celebrates exciting experiences with shouts of joy and cheers but insist that such emotions are improper in worship.

When people are grieving, why do we deny them the place in worship and fellowship to truly lament and question God, telling them “It will be alright! Just remember ‘In all things God works for the good of those who love him…” when we don’t even know what suffering they are going through – AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN TAKEN THE TIME TO ASK THEM.

Why do we profess every Sunday faith in a person whose life was shaped by servitude, humility, and obedience, and yet we struggle so to even scratch the surface of those attributes at times?

Why is church more about us and getting our preferences met first? AND THEN if those on the outside can fit into our mold, then they can enter and learn about Jesus.

Why are we more concerned with keeping our local church in good standing with a brotherhood church then worrying about whether Jesus is actually trying to change us so that we could effectively minister incarnationally to a postmodern, unchurch world?

Why are we so critical of postmodernism, resisting it at all cost when we have swallowed – hook, line, and sinker – modernism? Could it not be that while both isms contain elements contrary to the gospel, that God still could work WITHIN a postmodern world just as he did in a modern world?

These are just a few of my frustrations when it comes to church. However I am encouraged because God has worked through all the other imperfect moments of history in the church, so I know that he can work through our imperfect attempts at being a Jesus community…
…just as he can even work through someone like you and I!