Grace

For the past couple of weeks I have been often reminded of how blessed I am to be the recipient of Christ’s grace. Grace is one of the greatest spiritual blessings unique to the Christian era. It’s not as if God did not show his grace in the Old Testament, He did, just look at David’s sin and God’s response. But in the OT, God’s interaction with His followers usually focused on obedience, i.e. The Mosaic Covenant, Ten Commandments. In the Christian age comes an emphasis on Grace. John emphasizes this in Chapter 1 of his gospel. 16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. So many times in Jesus’ ministry we see Him pouring out this grace on the sinful and guilty of His time: the adulterous woman, the prostitute who washed His feet, Zaccheus the crooked tax collector, the Samaritan woman, the Gadarene demoniac. Jesus loved sinners. The kind of people you and I usually shun, ignore or castigate. He loved to show them grace, and that grace was not contingent upon a changed life, it was just grace. I’m so grateful He still loves sinners. He still pours grace upon sinful people like me. I’m so unworthy. Jesus no longer walks the streets of Jerusalem and Galilee. We can’t see him physically in New York, Dallas, Port Neches or in any place for that matter. He’s present, no doubt, but He needs us to be his hands and feet. He shows His grace through you and through me today. Jesus said, "freely you have received, freely give." How can you be a channel of God’s grace this week?

Human Trafficking

There are 27 million slaves in the world today. More than in the 250 years leading up to the Civil War. They are of all nations, backgrounds, gender and age. This tragedy happens right under our noses and we hardly know anything about it. It happens worldwide including and especially in the United States. A common trap happens like this: A group of Indians is promised transportation, a job, and the opportunity for citizenship in America. They sign up promising to work to pay off their debt for this service. They are brought to America, forced to work for far less than minimum wage, forced to live in sub-standard dormitories, and forced to pay for these ‘privileges’ out of their paltry wages. The example I’m referring to happened in Tulsa, OK and the workers worked for an Oklahoma based oil industry parts manufacturer. You can read this story and others like it at slaverymap.org.

Many times the slaves are used for labor, but usually they become sex slaves. Girls and sometimes boys, of all ages fall victim to this tragedy. But the victims are usually young girls, as young as 7 and 8. A good overview of the issue can be read at www.worldmag.com/articles/15011. However, if you really want a full exposure to this injustice then check out the movie: Call And Response (callandresponse.com). It’s a documentary, non-Christian, about human trafficking worldwide. Fair warning: its rated R for a reason, so be prepared to be offended by what you see and hear.

Most people, upon hearing about such a difficult issue, feel helpless to do anything about it other than give a few bucks here and there. No doubt money helps the organizations that fight trafficking, but here are a few other suggestions of action: Contact your representatives, state and federal, and tell them to support anti-human trafficking legislation. There’s some working its way through the Texas legislature right now. You can also log on to Shared Hope International (sharedhope.org) for great information and action opportunities. Another great website I highly recommend is chainstorereaction.com. This website lets you send an email to various companies and request a pledge from them to use slave-free labor worldwide. It’s amazingly easy. The email is written for you. You just pick the company, type your name and email and hit send.

Human trafficking is a worldwide tragedy. A modern-day abolitionist movement is growing to confront it. Its composed of secular as well as Christian activists. If non-Christians are motivated to fight this issue, why not Christians? Jesus loves these children. I hope you’ll join in.