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http.V/www.thepost.mindspring.com tKfje C!)arlotte THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1997 12A RELIGION Unraveling the mystery of Revelation Sunday School Lesson Devotional reading: Romans 2:1-11 Lesson Scripture: Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira should not be entirely unknovra to readers of the New Testament. Lydia, the “seller of purple” who was Paul’s first con vert in Philippi of Macedonia (Acts 16:11-15), came from Thyatira. This detail fits well with the fact that many highly organized trade guilds were pre sent in Thyatira. Membership in these guilds posed special problems to those who, like Lydia, became followers of Jesus. This is because the trade guilds were closely associated with heathen worship, which included feasts in honor of idols, and the accompanying immoral practices. To live as a Christian businessman or businesswoman in Thyatira demanded real com mitment! We can only surmise the pressures that Lydia may have faced if she returned to her home and sought to share her new-found faith vrith others. Thyatira was located on the Lycus River in Asia, on the road between Pergamos (the capital of Asia) and Sardis. Its principal deity was Apollo, the mythical Roman god of light and learning. Its modem name is Akhisar, or “White Castle,” so named for the rocky lull overhanging it. Once again the angel, or mes senger (apparently one of the leaders of the congregation), was to receive, deliver, and circulate the letter. Thyatira was the first of four inland cities of Asia to be addressed by the Lord of the church. Earlier letters (to Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos) had gone to towns located closer to the seacoast. It should be noted that this letter to Thyatira is the longest of the seven. The title Son of God is not used anywhere else in Revelation. It emphasizes Christ’s deity, per haps as a direct response to the aforementioned tendency of trade guilds to promote idol wor ship. Ihe description of Jesus as having eyes like unto a flame of fire is reminiscent of how He first appeared to John as the Son of man (Revelation 1:14). In addition, it further challenged the belief that the god Apollo was the source of light. It emphasized that Christ is not only ever present with His own, but also perceives their inmost thoughts. The feet...like fine brass again recalls Christ’s ini tial appearance to John (Revelation 1:15). One may question why the phrase thy works is used twice in this verse. A clearer reading, with the second usage appearing in its correct place, is given in the American Standard Version: ‘T know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than the first.” This made Thyatira’s pattern of growth the veiy opposite of that of Ephesus, which had lost its “first love” and had fallen from its “first works” (Revelation 2:4,5). The believer's works should include such inner qualities as charity (love) and faith, along vrith the more visible attributes of service to others and patience when suffering affliction. At the same time, love cannot be expressed without action (1 John 3:17,18), and neither can faith (James 2:14-18). Thyatira’s crowning achieve ment lay in a level of maturity that produced more and better accomplishments for Christ as the years went on. Like a good fruit tree, these believers brought forth a better crop each season. Could that be said of us? Faith community to play role in reform By Jeri Young THE CHARLOTTE POST The Rev. Ralph Williamson is taking welfare reform to local churches. Williamson, associate pastor of Steele Creek AME Zion Church, was selected in August to over see religious affairs for the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services. His mission is to form a coalition between Charlotte’s faith com munity and DSS. “We started in August of ‘96,” Williamson said. “Our effort is to look at the diverse faith commu nity with the common mission of helping people regardless of the orientation. We’re saying that each orientation can reach out and help someone.” Next week, a consortium, “A Faith Community United,” will be held at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church to raise the awareness of the faith community to people affected by welfare reform. The conference will feature Nancy Boyd- Franklin Ph.D., a therapist psy chologist and professor at Rutgers University. Boyd- Franklin has studied the African American family extensively. Several topics will be addressed during the two-day conference, from parenthood to developing community services that are faith based. New welfare legislation, which went into effect in October, places strict limits on how long families and individuals can receive benefits. The bill, which was met with derision by congressional Democrats and welfare experts, ended Aid for Families with Dependent Children, the preem inent source of cash welfare for more than 35 million Americans. The bill also pushed responsibility from the federal government to states. DSS director Richard “Jake” Jacobsen called it the “old shift and shaft” in an interview last fall. “As people’s entitlement goes away, they have go back into the work force, how can the church provide support for them,” Williamson asked. ‘We’re saying one of the ways is by teaching the message of personal respon sibility, good work ethics, being there for them as they go back into the work force. We believe that the church can be there to help them long-term.” The reform package will affect many African American families in the county. Although African Americans make up less than 30 percent of the total population, they constitute more than 80 percent of local welfare recipi ents. So far, the faith community has been leery. Many see DSS passing off responsibility in light See DSS page 13A A day of unity and prayer PHOTOS/5UE ANN JOHNSON Charlotteans gather for last Sunday Day of Unity and Prayer. The ecumenical event drew an estimated 600 to Memorial Stadium. Spectators were treated to performances by many of Charlotte’s top gospel groups. Rain dulls numbers, not spirit ByPete lacobelli THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA, S.C. - A rally against hate fell short of num bers, but not spirit Saturday as about 400 people marched through drizzle to protest burned churches and the Confederate flag flying over South Carolina’s Statehouse. Organizers planned for more than 10,000 people at the national gathering. But early morning showers and an over cast afternoon kept turnout low. “It’s like church on Sunday, if it’s raining or the weather is bad, you’re not going to see as many people there,” said the Rev. Terrance Mackey, whose Greeleyvdle church, Moimt Zion AME, was burned to the ground in 1995 and rededicated by President Clinton last June. The focus of the rally, called the “March of Solidarity to Challenge Hate in America,” were the church burnings that have plagued the South since 1990. On Friday, pastors, minis ters and activists from across the country unveiled a tomb stone monument with the names of those charred sanctu aries. “I’m tired of walking into churches where people have tears in their eyes,” the Rev. Mackey said. “We’ve got to let the country know that we are not going down any lower.” When the march began on the rain-slicked streets outside Allen University, an historically black college, participants seemed unsure how to proceed, even messing up the words to the '60s civil rights standard “We Shall Overcome.” By the time the group hit the Capitol about 45 minutes later, they were in S3mc and turned attention to the Confederate battle flag. The banner flies third in line beneath the American and state flags over the Statehouse. Cries of “Wliat do we want? The Confederate flag down. When do we want it? Now,” bounced off the building, cur rently under renovation. The marchers got part of their wish, thanks to the wet weather. While the American and Palmetto flag gusted open, a soggy Stars and Bars flag was wrapped against the pole. The South Carolina Committee for Racial Justice, thfe South Carolina Burned Church Restoration Coalition and the Center for Democratic Renewal are sponsors. Marchers traveled from sever al states to participate. Annie Henry of Chelford, Ark., took a 14-hour bus trip to honor her rebuilt St. Mark's Missionary Baptist Church, which burned two Novembers ago. There were 25 students from Western New England College in Springfield, Mass., with Project Rebuild. They will stay a week, despite finals coming up in three weeks, to help fix Rosemary Baptist, a predomi nantly black church in BamweU burned April 13,1996. “The problems of hate are not just a Southern issue and not just a black issue,” said student Jacob Burgess. “It affects all of Small group rekindles love of sacred harp THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BARNESVILLE, Ga. - The singers who perform once a year at Liberty Hill Primitive Baptist Church have turned their voices into a Sacred Harp. The group, whose members come from as far as 100 miles away, is helping preserve the tradition of Sacred Harp singing - a rhythmic, a cappella hymn singing style. “It’s kind of strange to 20th century ears,” said Raymond Hamrick, a Sacred Harp singer from Macon. “It’s medieval in sound.” Inside the middle Georgia church, full-volume songs echo off the hardwood floors and walls, making the choir sound larger than its 15 members. Sacred Harp singing is known as shape-note singing because it uses shapes - squares, dia monds, ovals and triangles - in place of musical notes. Shape-note singing, which uses a four-note scale, began in the 1700s as a way to improve music in church. The music came to Georgia in 1841, and in 1844 Georgians B.F. White and E.J. King published “The Sacred Harp,” a collection of hymns written as shape-note music, said Fletcher Anderson, profes sor of music at Wesleyan College. In Sacred Harp singing, the singers sit in a “hollow square” facing inward. Trebles, altos, tenors and basses each make up a side of the square. The melody is always sung by the tenors, and women and men sing both the alto and treble parts. Singers takes turns leading. Bible basis for all law, judge says ByJay Reeves THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Thousands of people, including Christian families and long haired bikers for Jesus, rallied Saturday to support a judge who refuses to remove a display of ' the Ten Commandments over ■ his bench. The demonstration for Judge Roy Moore turned into a litany against liberal courts, abortion, television and civil libertarians. “We are drawing a line in the sand and saying ‘Devil, you’ve taken enough from usl’ ” the Rev. Clifford Terrell shouted from the white marble steps of the Alabama Capitol, where the Confederacy was bom and vot ing rights marchers rallied in 1965. With Confederate flags and countless posters of the Ten Commandments waving over head, Moore told the crowd, ‘Your presence today will send a message across this nation. That message is clear: We must - nay, we will - have God back in America again.” An Alabama court has found that Moore’s display of the Christian tenets violates the Constitution by promoting one religion in a government set ting. Moore is appealing, and Gov. Fob James has threatened to call out the National Guard and state troopers if anyone tries to remove Moore’s plaque. “By defending his liberty we preserve freedom for all Americans,” James said at the rally. The judge, a Baptist, invites others to pray with him in court - as long as they’re not Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. “We are not a nation founded upon the Hindu god or Buddha,” he said earlier. Organizers said Capitol police estimated the crowd at 20,000 to 25,000 people but the throng did not appear nearly as large as the 1965 rally at the close of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, when a reported 25,000 gathered at the same spot. One man flew in from California to be part of what he described as a new wave of Christian activism and defend . the judge. “AH Judge Moore is asking for is to acknowledge God, he’s not asking to proselytizej” said Mark Rizzo, an auto shop owner from Riverside, Calif “He clear ly is not trying to establish a national religion.” “Maybe this wUl be a wake-up call to America as it slips moral ly, economically, and most of all, spiritually,” said Christian biker Mike Wiyugel of Tupelo, Miss., wearing a black leather jacket and fiinged chaps. A handful of opponents who accuse Moore of fostering reli gious intolerance debated his supporters carrying signs with slogans like “We Want God in America Again.” Log truck driver Wayne Willis said the judge's highly publi cized fight is making it tougher to be one of only a handful of Jews in the southeast Alabama town of Troy. “Just last week a boy held my boy’s arm behind his back and tried to break' it. He said he did it because he was Jewish,” said Willis, with tattooed arms and a baseball cap decorated with the Star of David. The judge’s supporters said his battle is about saving America, not bigotiy. “All the laws we’ve got, even traffic laws, are based on biblical principles,” said A1 Coulter.
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