One of the great things about my job with RUF is the reading program that we are required to work through. We’re reading books like Knowing God by J.I. Packer, How To Read the Bible For All It’s Worth by Gordan D. Fee, and Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller to name a few. Additionally, we are reading through books of the Bible and chapters/questions from the Westminster Confession of Faith. It’s a robust reading list designed to help us in our jobs as interns and to equip us for a lifetime of ministry in the church.
This month’s book, in particular, is a very important book. Heal Us Emmanuel is a series of essays submitted by both white and African American pastors, teachers, and ministers in the PCA, and it might be the most heartbreaking, convicting, and encouraging thing I’ve read in the past few years. As I read and hear about events like Furguson, MO, the Charleston, SC shootings from 2015, Black Lives Matter protests, and now the 2017 KKK/Neo Nazi rally in Charlotteville, I don’t think the church can keep pretending like these are isolated anomalies. We have a real need for healing in this country, and we (the church) should be on the front lines of that healing.
Racial reconciliation is a complex, challenging issue. It has been since the church began. I honestly don’t know exactly what it should look like, but I think it can start by picking up this book and reading it.
RUF University Alabama Birmingam 