Originally published on Blogger 5/18/15
Recently I was talking to a friend of mine who is a DJ in Baltimore. We talked about the violence there and she simply asked me what I thought. As a native son of Baltimore I felt many things about what caused the issue and what needed to be addressed. I remembered of how I grew up wanting to serve others, to teach them, to empower them. I thought of how much I wished I was there to help my community.
I felt the pain of someone who remembers how he and other young black males like me were treated as teenagers. Oftentimes disregarded, disrespected, treated as if we had no ability to reason, goals, or common sense. It made me think of how the very people who oversaw the police were elected again and again by the people of Baltimore. I thought of how people with names like Schaeffer and O’Malley used Baltimore, like a cheap floozy, all the way to the governorship of the State of Maryland, while doing little to build up the city or address the daily needs of its people. I thought of how each person had somehow failed to give young black men an understanding of who they were, the greatness in each of them, of the very importance of community and family.
I began to mention all of this and said, “Baltimore needs what this nation needs, a revival.” To be clear, we should not forgo the social, economic, and political changes that need to occur to alleviate crime, build up businesses who can employ our youth, and the myriad of drug treatment and prevention programs needed. But the reality of life demonstrates that no program or system, the Great Society for example, can facilitate the change, the complete change that God can. No New Deal or Bolshevik Revolution can do what the love of God can do, which is to bring people into the harmony, grace, and power that is God.
A move of God’s power inspires hope initially and demonstrates to man that there is something larger, someone more powerful. It underscores the fact that they can walk in God's authority and power without the Pope, local deacon, or bishop. The love of God can change the very fabric of the city, but will require believers to rise up in the authority He gave us, in such a ways that we exercise it. A revival in Baltimore will show people that what they need, they already possess. It will show that there they have the skills, mentality, earnestness, and God given talent to completely revamp, renew, and redevelop the city.
Operating under God’s power will ensure that people’s needs are met. It will help ensure that people make godly and therefore righteous decisions for the benefit of all and not of the democratic or republican party. The Word of God clearly shows us in scripture that His will should be on earth as it is in heaven. That we can forgive others as we are forgiven. But to have a real revival the people of Baltimore must rise up, honor God, and decree His Word. Anything short of God’s power washing over the city will be superficial and frankly will lead only to the same things we have tried. For once, let’s remember whose we are, embrace His Word and power, and see him show out.
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