For Christs Sake I recently responded to an excerpt from a book by David Anderson (EVERYONE HAS A DOT Gracism: The

Art of Inclusion). A portion of that response follows: There must be a theological response to racism in the culture and racial segregation in the church. Right? There isits gracism. - Gracism.fm- David Anderson First, at first reading David Andersons Everyone has a dot was good sound Evangelical logic. But it assumes a state of grace where either (1) overcoming someone elses perceived bigotry is accomplished by putting on an attitude or state of grace to accept the other in spite of their bigotry, or (2) racial bigots must put on a good veneer of grace to overlook the deficiencies of the other. In either case, the underlying attitudes are not dealt with as they really are, as being false, but merely suppressed with a new attitude called grace. The point is all these attitudes - bigoted mentality - perceived deficiency (however manifested, by either the oppressor or the victim) - or grace - ALL of these are mental apparitions. Apparitions manifesting in our minds as thoughts. Created internally as the product of our own natural mental processes, or acquired externally through culture and education, but still the less then connected expression of the indwelling Word - Logos. Mental creations - manipulations of logic and reason to produce our own answers, but more than often not the result of apprehending and proceeding out of and through our inborn divine nature. But it can look very good, and religiously impressive. Grace is realizing that these manufactured standards - dont really matter - Im not playing by their rules. There is life within, and being taught by that life causes me to realize a death to the old measure and standard that condemns me, and produces SIN in me. For me to continue in my religious constructs, or bigotry or acceptance of insecurities, or whatever other mental assumption derived apart from Christ in me, subjugates me to the power of the Law and SIN. These apparitions are real spiritual forces. They are created beings. But are they of the devil? of the satanic legion of demons? I dont know. I believe they are the construct of human mental capacities, and in relation to the indwelling Logos, a kind of Anti-logos or AntiWord or Anti-Christ. Normal orthodox Christian theology defines grace as: "the free and unmerited assistance or favor or energy or saving presence of God in his dealings with humanity...". Grace is a gift of God and is not considered to be deserved by the individual. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God; God's spirit or influence operating in mankind; a virtue or excellence of divine origin; or the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect. From this concept and theology of freely given, unmerited favor, accepted by us from God, we, in our attempts to realize practical application of this unmerited favor endeavor to provide means of expression, reasoning and rationalizing avenues of religious norm, acceptability and accountability. To become what is gleaned from our sacred texts and reconstructed in our minds as dogma and doctrine. It is as though after realizing unmerited favor, we set ourselves upon

the task of meriting it. And on top of all our recognized human deficiencies, we begin to load on ourselves the rules and obligations to manage and control our wicked character. So on top of all our crap, we become buried in a new dimension of crap, or more probably, something that we spray in the air to cover the stench. Eventually, our air fresheners become just as disgusting and suffocating as the odor we are trying to cover up. Our concept of grace, while true that it is the freely given, unmerited favor of God, is deficient in that it presumes our changing or making the changes that would be representative of the grace endowed upon us. We reason, I have received the unmerited favor of God therefore It rests upon me to make that unmerited favor, that grace, WORK. So our minds get to spinning and weaving our religious slip covers to spread over that old stained, torn and mildewed chair - so that at least - we will have something that appears decent enough to sit in. What we fail to realize is that the grace we receive has already wiped out the old wicked stinking character, that old musty chair that the cat pissed on - is gone. And what we perceive of it in our natural minds - is not real. We fail to realize that there is life in us, imperceptible with natural eyes, but there none the less. But we are still sitting in that piss soaked lounger that has become so comfortable to us. And we cannot even recognize the smell of the urine any more. Spray a little more. Throw on a new cover - There ya go. Good as new. (vomit- barf). But grace - not just unmerited favor, but Him. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord! Rom 7:24-25 In each and everyone of us - there is life. Most of us do not realize this. And many, thinking they realize it, set about the process to manufacture it. So we build our religion. Many ways, means and forms, but all essentially of the same purpose, to know God, and to relate to each other. And some may even realize elements of truth, or even historic validity to prophetic claims. But very few touch or are the product of the life, the Logos, the Word, that which was from the beginning and born in the image bearing nature of God within us. So in our mentalities we construct our plains of existence. Most are infused with multiple layers of religious, economic, political, familial and whatever other dimension of life may be perceived of value, or real. But most, are not the by-products of the direct realization of the immediacy and intimacy with the divine, internally. He is there. And He is Real. He is the only real. But He is not found in yours, mine or their religion.