NEWS PROVIDED BY
Allentown United Methodist Church
May 17, 2022
OPINION, May 17, 2022 /Standard Newswire/ -- The following open letter is submitted by Rev. Dr. Jessica Davis, J.D., D.Min., Ph.D., Senior Pastor, Allentown United Methodist Church:
Today, as a pastor of the Lord's Church, I write and submit this open letter of apology to America for the escalation of hate in our sovereign nation. Hate is a crime of the soul. The Lord's Church in America has failed her citizens. The Lord left a commandment before his ascension to sit on the right hand of the Father as our High Priest to intercede for us, and that commandment is to love one another as he has loved us. We have failed America. On this Day of the Lord, I repent for the Lord's Church in America's failure to share the love of God in our communities across this nation.
The Lord's Church is the only entity in America mandated to love one another. The Lord did not mandate the local, state, and federal governments to love one another. The Lord did not mandate Main Street or Wall Street to love one another. The Lord did not even mandate primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities to love one another. We hope all would express the love of God, but they were not mandated by the Lord.
When the love of God is fully expressed, it causes the giver and recipient of that love to value, welcome, and affirm the sacredness of human personality. The love of God captures the human personality. The love of God arrests the crimes of the soul. When we are truly captured by this love, we experience the transformative power of God. Our very human nature is transformed. I know this transformative truth, because I have experienced it as a cross-racial and cross-cultural pastor in the Lord's Church.
Love invites all into the human family. If we do not work together towards a more perfect Union, we will die together as fools. A fool says in his/her heart that there is no God. We can no longer live our lives foolishly as if God does not exist. Without God, there is no possibility of loving one another, because God is love.
The answer for America is the love of God. When you come in contact with the love of God, you will never be the same. Let's confront all forms of hate with the love of God and welcome each other into the eternal human family of God.
America, we must repent and turn back to God. God is love.
Shalom,
Rev. Dr. Jessica Davis, J.D., D.Min., Ph.D.
Senior Pastor
Allentown United Methodist Church
SOURCE Allentown United Methodist Church
CONTACT: Dr. Jessica Davis, 609-451-1441, pastorjessicadavis@gmail.com